Evelyn de Morgan (British, 1850-1919)
Evelyn de Morgan (née Evelyn Pickering) was born in London, the eldest daughter of lawyer Percival Pickering QC. She came from an artistic background, her Uncle was mid-level Pre Raphaelite painter John Roddam Spencer Stanhope. De Morgan's family did not support Evelyn's artistic talents so she studied in secret until at the age of 15 they allowed her to attend the Slade School of Art where she became one of their earliest female students. At the Slade School de Morgan proved herself to be a prize winning pupil. Later in 1857 she made her first visit to Italy where she studied under her uncle. De Morgan's first exhibit was at the Dudley Gallery in 1876 with St Catherine of Alexandria and later that year she was invited to show at the Grosvenor Gallery. In 1887 she married potter William de Morgan, who was known for his work with William Morris. The couple shared a deep interest in spiritual matters which would show in both of their works.
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Evelyn's subjects consisted of allegorical figures and legends containing moral messages such as the painting The Worship of Mammon. Due to William's health the couple divided their time living between Florence and Chelsea.Evelyn de Morgan distinguished herself as an artist painting poetic, symbolic pictures based on classical mythology and soon was a regular contributor to the New Gallery, establishing her name as an idiosyncratic artist much in the style of Edward Burne-Jones, whom she admired. Painters such as George Frederick Watts, Marianne Stokes, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale and the Pre-Raphaelites influenced de Morgan's work though her time in Italy added styles from the Florentine school, especially Botticelli. Her best paintings are of classical subjects, typically containing one or two figures, and her use of color improved later in her career. De Morgan is one of the few female Pre-Raphaelite painters who can be considered Symbolist.
De Morgan exhibited at Leighton House in 1902 and in 1906 held a solo show at Bruton Gallery. In 1907 she held an exhibit consisting of 25 works at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. In 1916 during World War I, de Morgan was moved to hold and exhibition to benefit the Red Cross which included 13 paintings.
Evelyn de Morgan died in 1919. After her death de Morgan's brother and sister arranged for her works to be put in permanent collections, first at the Leighton House and later in the Old Battersea House which is now owned by the De Morgan Foundation. Evelyn de Morgan's paintings make up one of the largest permanent collections of a single artist in Britain.
Museums: Evelyn de Morgan may be found at Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum and National Portrait Gallery, London.
Evelyn De Morgan Selected Works
- An Angel Piping to the Souls in Hell 1916- Angel of Death 1890, private collection
- Angel of Death 1897, private collection
- Angel piping to the Souls in Hell
- Ariadne at Naxos 1877, De Morgan Centre, London
- Aurora Triumphans circa 1886
- Boreas and Oreithyia 1896, De Morgan Centre, London
- By the Waters of Babylon 1882-83, De Morgan Centre, London
- Cadmus and Harmonia 1877, De Morgan Centre, London
- Cassandra 1898, De Morgan Centre, London
- Clytie 1886-87
- Death of a Butterfly 1905-10, De Morgan Centre, London
- Death of the Dragon 1914, De Morgan Centre, London
- Deianira
- Demeter Mourning for Persephone 1906, De Morgan Centre, London
- Dryad 1884-85, De Morgan Centre, London
- Earthbound 1897
- Eos 1895
- Flora 1894
- Gloria In Excelsis 1893
- Goddess of Blossoms & Flowers 1880
- Helen of Troy 1898
- Hero Holding the Beacon for Leander 1885
- Hope in the Prison of Despair 1887
- John Roddam Spencer Stanhope 48x42
- Life and Thought Emerging from the Tomb 1893, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
- Love, the Misleader 1889, private collection
- Love's Passing
- Luna 1885
- Lux in Tenebris 1895
- Medea 1889, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead
- Mercury
- Night & Sleep 1878
- Night and Sleep 1878
- Our Lady of Peace 1907, De Morgan Centre, London
- Our Lady of Peace circa 1902
- Phosphorus and Hesperus 1881
- Port after Stormy Seas - Spenser's Faerie Queene 1905
- Portrait of a Woman
- Portrait of Margaret Rawlins 1883
- Queen Eleanor & Fair Rosamund 1905, De Morgan Centre, London
- SOS 1916
- Salutation or The Visitation 1883
- Sleep and Death, the Children of the Night 1883, De Morgan Centre, London
- Sleeping earth and waking moon
- The Angel of Death
- The Angel with the Serpent
- The Cadence of Autumn 1905
- The Captives
- The Crown of Glory 1896
- The Dryad 1884-85
- The Field of the Slain 1916
- The Garden of Opportunity 1892, De Morgan Centre, London
- The Gilded Cage circa 1919
- The Grey Sisters 1880-81, De Morgan Centre, London
- The Hour Glass 1905
- The Kingdom of Heaven Suffereth Violence
- The Love Potion 1903
- The Poor Man who Saved the City 1901, De Morgan Centre, London
- The Prisoner 1907-08
- The Red Cross allegory of Flanders war graves 1916
- The Sea Maidens
- The Soul's Prison House 1888, De Morgan Centre, London
- The Storm Spirits 1900
- The Valley of Shadows 1899
- The Vision 1914, private collection
- The Worship of Mammon 1909, De Morgan Centre, London
- Tobias and the Angel 1875
- Undiscovered Country
- William Frend De Morgan
- Young Girl in a Blue Dress
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