Evelyn De Morgan (30 August 1855 – 2 May 1919) was an English painter associated early in her career with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement, and working in a range of styles including Aestheticism and Symbolism. Her paintings are figural, foregrounding the female body through the use of spiritual, mythological, and allegorical themes. They rely on a range of metaphors (such as light and darkness, transformation, and bondage) to express what several scholars have identified as spiritualist and feminist content. Her later works also dealt with the themes of war from a pacifist perspective, engaging with conflicts such as the Second Boer War and World War I. Rowland Neville Umfreville (1861–1931) and Anna Wilhelmina Stirling (1865–1965) who became a writer.

De Morgan was educated at home; according to her sister and biographer Anna Wilhelmina Stirling, their mother insisted that "from the first Evelyn [was to] profi[t] from the same instruction as her brother." She studied Greek, Latin, French, German, and Italian, as well as classical literature and mythology, and was also exposed at a young age to history books and scientific texts. The introduction to this book describes the couple as practicing automatic writing together every night for many years of their marriage. Since precious little primary material in Evelyn De Morgan’s own hand has survived, this text provides important information about her faith and her approach to a range of issues—from her understanding of ultimate reality to her belief about the role of art in capturing spirit. From the moment that de Morgan encountered spiritualism, her perspective seemed to change, and her works started to reflect more ideas about darkness and death. De Morgan used a range of motifs to represent spiritual ideas. A few examples are Renaissance angels, heavenly auras, a distinctive contrast between light and dark, and the symbolic use of colours. De Morgan used complex allegories to depict her social commentary and spiritual beliefs. The iconography in these works reflect several spiritual themes such as the progress of the spirit, the materialism of life on earth, and the imprisonment of the soul in the earthly body. The headstone depicts "an angel with outstretched arms, pleading with a female figure of Death, with inverted torch, who turns her back". Their tombstone bears an inscription from The Result of an Experiment: “Sorrow is only of the flesh / The life of the spirit is joy”.

Career

thumb|Evelyn De Morgan, [[Flora (De Morgan)|Flora (1894)]]thumb|The Salutation, ([[Visitation (Christianity)|The Visitation) 1883-4]]De Morgan started drawing lessons when she was 15, and from the outset was dedicated to her craft. On the morning of her seventeenth birthday, she wrote in her diary: "Art is eternal, but life is short…" — "I will make up for it now, I have not a moment to lose." She was also friendly with other key figures in the Victorian literary and artistic world, like writer Vernon Lee.

A retrospective Evelyn De Morgan: The Modern Painter in Victorian London runs from April 2025 – 4 January 2026 at the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.

Several of De Morgan's works were included in the Clark Art Institute’s 2025 exhibit A Room of Her Own: Women Artists-Activists in Britain, 1875-1945.

Collections

Her works are held in the De Morgan Collection, the De Morgan Museum at Cannon Hall, Barnsley, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the National Trust properties of Wightwick Manor and Knightshayes Court, the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Southwark Art Collection.

Works

thumb|[[Aurora Triumphans, c. 1886]]

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Image !! Date !! Title !! Collection !! Notes

|-

| 100px|| 1870-1879 || The Angel with the Serpent || Private ||

|-

| 100px || 1873-1875 || Medusa || De Morgan Collection|| Gesso on panel with bodycolour

|-

| 100px || 1875 || Tobias and the Angel || ||

|-

| || 1875-1919 || Mater Dolorosa || Leighton House Museum, Kensington || Drawing

|-

| || 1876 || St Catherine of Alexandria || ||

|-

| 100px || 1877 || Cadmus and Harmonia || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px || 1877 || Ariadne at Naxos || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px||1896 (circa)||The Crown of Glory|| Private ||

|-

| 100px || 1877–1878 or 1886 (circa)|| De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px||1910-1914|| Evening Star over the Sea || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px||1910-1914|| Twilight || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px ||1910-1914 || The Barred Gate || De Morgan Collection||

|-

| 100px ||1910-1914 || Night and Dawn || De Morgan Collection||

|-

| 100px|| 1914-1918 || Death of the Dragon || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px || 1914 || The Vision || Private ||

|-

| 100px || 1914-1916 || S.O.S || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px || 1915 (circa) || The Mourners || Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton ||

|-

| 100px || 1914-1916 (circa) || The Field of the Slain || Clark Art Institute, Williamstown ||

|-

| 100px || 1918 || Moonbeams Dipping into the Sea || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| || 1918 || The Red Cross || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1901-1902 or 1908 || The Gilded Cage || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px || 1870-1919 || Deianera || ||

|-

| 100px|| 1878 || The Kingdom of Heaven Suffereth Violence and the Violent Take It by Force || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px ||1890-1919 ||In Memoriam || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px ||1915 (probable) || The Captives || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| || 1900-1919 or 1918 ||Moonbeams or Moonbeams Dipping into the Sea || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px || 1910-1919 || The Passing of the Soul at Death || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1906 || The Light Shineth in Darkness and the Darkness Comprehendeth it Not || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1910-1914 || Sunbeam and Summer Shower || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1878 || Venus and Cupid || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1910-1914 || Boreas and the Fallen Leaves || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1875-1880 || Mercury || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| || 1880 ||The Angel of Death || De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1880-1888 ||The Little Sea Maid|| De Morgan Collection ||

|-

| 100px|| 1880-1889 || 'Music Sweet Music (Saint Cecilia) || Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton ||

|-

| || 1870-1919 || Study of Hair on a Woman's Head ||Ashmolean Museum, Oxford || Drawing

|-

| || 1904 || Study for 'Saint Christina||De Morgan Collection ||

|}

<gallery heights="230">

File:Evelyn de Morgan - The Crown of Glory, 1896.jpg|The Crown of Glory

File:Helen of Troy.jpg|Helen of Troy, 1898

File:Cassandra1.jpeg|Cassandra

File:CadmusHarmoniaEvelynMorgan.jpg|Cadmus and Harmonia

File:Eos.jpg|Eos, 1895

File:Evelyn de Morgan - Hero Holding the Beacon for Leander, 1885.jpg|Hero Holding the Beacon for Leander

File:Clytie, by Evelyn Pickering de Morgan.jpg|Clytie

File:Hope in a Prison of Despair.jpg|Hope in a Prison of Despair, 1887

File:The worship of Mammon.jpg|Painting The Worship of Mammon, 1909

File:De Morgan - Guilded Cage.jpg|The Gilded Cage, 1901-1902 or 1908

File:Evelyn De Morgan - The Dryad.jpg|Dryad, 1884-1885

File:The Red Cross.jpg|The Red Cross, 1918

</gallery>

References

Further reading

  • "Evelyn De Morgan" at The Bridgeman Art Library
  • Evelyn De Morgan Artwork
  • Grave of Evelyn and William De Morgan
  • Endless Digressions on Evelyn De Morgan by Kirsty Walker, Victorian Historian