Evelyn De Morgan
Evelyn De Morgan was an English artist who lived from 1855 to 1919. She was part of the second generation of artists that were in the Pre-Raphaelite art movement, along with other notable names such as John William Waterhouse. She was also a Symbolism artist.
De Morgan, born Evelyn Pickering, was born into an upper middle-class family. She received far more education within her home than most women at the time. From a young age, De Morgan aspired to be an artist. Her mother did not wholly support her, as it was unusual for a woman of her status to work for money, but her father did. At age 15, she began taking drawing lessons.
De Morgan’s uncle was the Pre-Raphaelite artist, John Roddam Spencer Stanhope. She was allowed to travel with her uncle to study the old masters in Italy and France. His support and style greatly influenced her work. On the morning of her 17th birthday, De Morgan wrote into her diary, “At the beginning of each year I say, ‘I will do something’ and at the end I have done nothing. Art is eternal, but life is short…I will make up for it now, I have not a moment to lose.”
At age 17, De Morgan enrolled at the Slade School of Art in London. She was one of the first women to attend that school. This new school was progressive and allowed their women students to take nude drawing classes which was exceptionally unusual. Evelyn was extremely talented. She drew daily and homed in her craft of drawing lifelike figures, from their postures to their faces, hands, and feet.
De Morgan often traveled to Florence to visit her uncle. It was in Florence that De Morgan was exposed to the Early Renaissance master, Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli and the art of Florence moved De Morgan’s art away from the Aesthetic style, and “art for art’s sake” that she had been learning in school, to her own unique style. In 1883, De Morgan met the ceramicist, William De Morgan. They were married in 1887 and remained together until his death in 1917. The two were deeply in love. Their relationship inspired Evelyn to create grand allegorical works dealing with the subject of love.
The bright colors and symbolism behind the motifs gave De Morgan her own distinct style. De Morgan was a pacifist. Her anti-war sentiments motivated her art during WWI. She was also a feminist and socialist, scoffing the accumulation of material wealth, which greatly inspired her work. De Morgan was also a suffragist, and openly supported a woman’s right to vote as early as 1889. Though only minor in her early works, her later works were thick with symbolism advocating the causes she believed in.
De Morgan showed her art for many years, from 1877 when she was just 22, up to her death in 1919 at age 63. She was very successful in her lifetime. One of her most consistent patrons was William Imrie who owned the infamous White Star Line, of Titanic fame. For many years, De Morgan’s paintings financially carried her and her husband as well as her husband’s ceramic business.
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