Women and History: The woman behind renowned ceramicist William De Morgan

Who: Evelyn De Morgan (1855-1919) was a British artist, feminist, suffragist and, pacifist.

Obstacles: De Morgan's mother did not support her art career and secretly paid her tutor to tell her she did not have any talent. DeMorgan insisted on attending art school. She signed her paintings with her gender-neutral middle name to ensure sales were not limited by her gender.

Why Then: De Morgan was the first woman accepted to the Slade School of Art in London. She won multiple awards and a full scholarship. She revolutionized a complicated painting technique by using gold on gray paper. She made female subjects the central character in her paintings and immortalized a female perspective that was missing from men's paintings of that period (women were portrayed solely through the male gaze, as objects).

Her work sold well. She used the profits from her painting sales to financially and creatively support her husband's work (arts and crafts ceramicist, William De Morgan).

De Morgan sketched and painted throughout her life and produced 100's of pieces of art.

Why, Now: De Morgan's unwavering commitment to her art is inspiring. Her art is a lasting legacy of women's experiences from that period. She used her canvases to express socio-political concerns to inspire change. Below are a couple of De Morgan's paintings:

Ariadne at Naxos (1877) the title of the work gives the picture narrative, which was against the Aesthetic code. Ariadne is depicted alone and abandoned on the island of Naxos, a point in Greek myth when she has been left by her lover Theseus, who is traditionally painted sailing off into the distance when artists tackle this theme. Evelyn has instead put the female character at the center of the canvas and dressed her in the red robes of Christian martyrs, successfully yet subtly imbuing the painting with a subtext about female suffering and abandonment by the patriarchal society she lived in. (Excerpt source: https://www.demorgan.org.uk/discover/the-de-morgans/evelyn-de-morgan/)

Flora (1894) is Evelyn’s most celebrated picture. The figure of Flora is based on Botticelli’s Primavera, but Evelyn has surrounded her with lush greenery, flowers, birds, and swirling draped robes to make her iconic, instantly recognizable as Evelyn’s own. It is technically perfect, showing off her skill and mastery of the medium of painting in oils on canvas. The dazzling luminosity of the picture has been achieved by her innovative use of colored oils over gold leaf, a method of her own invention, borrowed from medieval altarpieces found in the city of Florence, to which this picture is an ode. Flora is the goddess of springtime and of the city of Florence, where Evelyn lived during the winter from 1890 onwards. The scroll at the foot of the picture references Scotland, Imrie’s hometown, and so acknowledges the patron’s direction of the piece.

(Excerpt source: https://www.demorgan.org.uk/discover/the-de-morgans/evelyn-de-morgan/)

Is there something you want to do that pushes at your psyche, perhaps asking you to put aside your conventional roles?

I was also moved by the men who supported De Morgan in pursuing her work, her father, and her husband, William. Who are the allies in your life?

Check out more of DeMorgan's paintings here:

https://www.demorgan.org.uk/discover/the-de-morgans/evelyn-de-morgan/

Visiting the UK? There are currently paintings in three major exhibitions: 

https://www.demorgan.org.uk/exhibitions/loans/

Sara Plaw is a Toronto-based content creator.  She explores historical female figures and the often ignored contributions they have made.

#disregarded