Potter began his artistic training at the school of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, but from 1883 to 1885 he had a more important apprenticeship with Daniel Chester French with whom he established a relationship which lasted the rest of his life. On leaving French's studio, Potter had a stint as superintendent of Proctor's Vermont marble quarry and then left to study in Paris. There, he learned how to model the human figure under Merci‚ and, more importantly for his later career, learned how to sculpt animal figures from Fr‚miet. His debut was made at the Salon of 1889.
Returning to the United States in 1891, Potter collaborated with French on sculptures for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, held in 1893. These included The Apotheosis of Columbus and several groups that bordered the lagoon in the Court of Honor. That job was followed by other joint efforts, many involving equestrian monuments. After making preliminary sketches and models for an equestrian group, French would execute the human figure, leaving the horse to Potter. The two artists thus collaborateded on monuments such as those to General Grant (1899) in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, and to General Hooker (1903) for the city of Boston).
On his own, Potter designed and executed equestrian monuments to General George McClellan (Fairmount Park) and General Philip Kearny (Washington, D. C.), among others. As an animalier, perhaps Potter's best known sculptures are the marble lions that grace the staircase outside the main entrance to the New York Public Library. In portrait work, Potter executed a bronze statue of Robert Fulton for the rotunda of the Library of Congress, as well as a number of other life-size figures and portrait busts.
Possibly because of his residency in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Potter exhibited at the Academy only twice, in 1889 and in 1920.
