William De Morgan
William De Morgan was an English artist and author who lived from 1839 to 1917. He was part of the Arts and Crafts movement and spent years working for William Morris at Morris & Co.
De Morgan was born in London to a wealthy family, both in terms of intellect and money. His desire to become an artist was fully supported by his parents and in 1859, he enrolled at the prestigious Royal Academy of Art in London. De Morgan soon became unhappy with the more formal art ideology he was learning at the academy. After befriending William Morris, the famous Pre-Raphaelite artist, De Morgan quit the academy and joined in the Arts and Crafts movement, which Morris also took part in. During this time, De Morgan shifted his focus from a broader study of art to the decorative arts.
Between 1863 and 1872, De Morgan worked for William Morris, designing tiles and glass for his company, Morris & Co. Though he started with stained glass, De Morgan soon switched to working with ceramics. This soon became his favorite medium, and he would work with ceramics for the rest of his life. In 1872, De Morgan created his own ceramic company in the upper-class Chelsea neighborhood of London. He mostly designed ceramic tiles and vases. De Morgan was inspired and heavily influenced by Persian tiles. Soon, the richer colors and fantastical creatures often seen in Persian tiles started appearing in his own designs.
In 1887, De Morgan married Evelyn Pickering, who was a well-respected and extremely talented Pre-Raphaelite artist. The two were deeply in love and remained together for the rest of their lives. De Morgan was always in financial straits with his art. In the beginning of the twentieth century, he turned to writing in which he was very successful. His first book, Joseph Vance, was a bestseller.
De Morgan died in 1917 at 77 years old of trench fever, an affliction that was spreading during WWI. He had not actually served in the trenches during the war but caught the illness from soldiers returning home. Authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis also suffered from this ailment.
Back to the Artists page.
You can learn about different art movements here.
