Evelyn De Morgan Biography

Evelyn De Morgan (1855-1919) was an English painter linked to the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement. She is known for her paintings that prominently showcase the female body and explore spiritual, mythological, and allegorical themes through metaphors of light and darkness, transformation, and bondage. Her later works conveyed pacifist views on war, particularly during the Second Boer War and World War I.

Born Mary Evelyn Pickering in London, she was the daughter of Percival Pickering QC and Anna Maria Wilhelmina Spencer Stanhope. Educated at home, she studied classical literature, languages, and science. In 1872, she enrolled at the South Kensington National Art Training School and later moved to the Slade School of Art, where she earned several awards.

Evelyn was closely associated with artist George Frederic Watts and studied under her uncle John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, which helped shape her style. From 1883, she was married to ceramicist William De Morgan, and they shared a commitment to social causes, including women's suffrage.

De Morgan's art began to reflect themes of spiritualism after her exposure to it, using motifs such as angels and contrasts between light and dark. She produced over fifteen war paintings expressing her anti-war sentiments, and in 1916, held a benefit exhibition to support the Red Cross.

Evelyn De Morgan died on 2nd May 1919, in London, two years after her husband’s passing, and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, Surrey.