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Hidden Heritage: Mrs Stirling, Old Battersea House and the De Morgan Collection
1st May - 29th June 2013
This exhibition at the De Morgan Centre reveals a fascinating insight into the hidden heritage of Wandsworth and the unique personality of Mrs Stirling, a Battersea resident who displayed her substantial collection of Victorian art in one of the borough's finest buildings.
Old Battersea House in Vicarage Crescent was under threat of demolition until Chelsea resident and author Mrs Stirling persuaded Battersea Council to grant her lifetime tenancy, offering to use the house to display her extensive art collection for the benefit of Battersea residents. Mrs Stirling’s collection consisted in the main, of works by her sister, late Victorian artist Evelyn De Morgan, and the Arts and Crafts ceramics of her brother-in-law William De Morgan, a contemporary and close friend of William Morris. These were displayed in her home, where visitors could enjoy lengthy tours personally led by Mrs Stirling and her butler, Mr Peters.
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Evelyn De Morgan: The Lost Paintings
1st February 2013 - 20th April 2013
Late night viewing: Thursday 7th February 2013
In October 1991 a fire ravaged the Bourlet’s art storage unit where much of the De Morgan Foundation’s art collection was stored. In one night more than 15 paintings by Evelyn De Morgan and many other artworks were tragically destroyed – lost for future generations to admire. This exhibition will display drawings and studies for these lost paintings, alongside colour photographs taken during the preceding years in the art store, giving an unprecedented opportunity to discover more about these extraordinary works of art.
Evelyn De Morgan is renowned for her oil paintings which are abundant with Pre-Raphaelite imagery, spiritualist symbolism and strong feminist undertones, but she also exhibited remarkable skills in drawing. The De Morgan Centre’s collections contain a significant number of Evelyn’s drawings and pastel studies for her paintings, which give a fascinating insight into her creative process.
This exhibition focuses on a small group of rarely seen studies by Evelyn De Morgan which demonstrate her working process – from loose compositional sketches, to detailed anatomical studies (often of both clothed and naked forms in the same pose) and refined and accurate pastel studies for the final work.
Evelyn drew from life using a small pool of models including her maid Jane Hales, family members and professional models. Recurring faces are familiar presences in Evelyn’s work, as demonstrated by two studies of male heads for St Christina Giving her Father’s Jewels to the Poor and The Marriage of St. Francis and the Holy Poverty, which are of the same Italian model. Whilst often intended as studies for large scale thematic paintings, De Morgan’s works on paper also portray a sense of the intimate and familial scale of the artist’s world; delicately executed studies of hands holding props from the artist’s studio for St. Christina Giving her Father’s Jewels to the Poor being a case in point.
This exciting exhibition will open on 1st February 2013, and we invite you to join us for a late night viewing on Thursday February 7th 2013.
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Christmas Show: Transformations
14th November 2012 – 19th January 2013
This festive season, the De Morgan Centre will be exploring the transformation of familiar materials into surprising and unique shapes and forms, in a selling exhibition featuring the work of Peter Layton, Anne Selby, Kevin Hutson and Heather Konschuh.Transformations will run from 14th November 2012 – 19th January 2013.
This selling exhibition will display a selection of pieces from artists working in very different mediums, each creating shapes and forms that evolve and transform during the creative process.
One of Europe’s pre-eminent glass artists, Peter Layton has directly influenced several of this country’s leading glassmakers and inspired many more. Layton runs the London Glassblowing Studio in Bermondsey as a collective where glassblowers can express their creativity using the studio’s kilns. Layton creates abstract works that evolve during the creative process, and is known for his strong use of colour and organic and sculptural forms.
Anne Selby creates remarkable silk scarves and boas in striking shades using a Japanese pleating technique called arashi shibori. This technique transforms delicate multi-layered, hand-dyed silks into garments that take unusual and unexpected forms. Inspired by nature, Selby experiments with colour to enhance the sculptural quality of her pieces.
Kevin Hutson creates unusually architectural pieces from turned wood. Hutson trained in carpentry and joinery, and worked in architectural joinery, which inspired his later experiments in creative forms. Hutson blends subtle surface tones of colour to emphasis the grain found in the wood, and the clear inspiration of Oriental architecture creates movement within each piece.
Heather Konschuh has exhibited at the De Morgan Centre several times, and is contributing festive hand-blown glass baubles to the exhibition. Though small in size, these baubles exhibit Heather’s aptitude in exploring vibrant colours and contrasting opacities in her glassware.
The pieces will range in price, beginning from £15, providing the perfect opportunity to purchase an affordable and utterly unique gift this festive season.
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26th October - 3rd November 2012
In October of this year we will welcome an exhibition of ceramics, paintings, print and textiles from renowned ceramicist Sandra Eastwood and the multi-disciplinary artist Jacy Wall. We have hosted Tim’s carefully curated shows previously at the Centre and are delighted to once again display a range of hand-crafted objects in this selling exhibition.
Sandra Eastwood is a highly skilled potter and an accomplished hand builder of sculptural forms. Her modernist patterns and designs are inspired by the musical compositions of Bach, Stravinsky and Shostakovich amongst others, as well the diverse melodic phrases of jazz, blues and gospel music. Her aptitude in mathematics is also evident in her creative output: she is inspired by Fibonacci patterns observed in nature, in pine cones, sunflowers and seashells.
Jacy Wall has a background in constructed textiles and began her career in the medium of woven tapestry, more recently experimenting with painting and printmaking. Through the theme of patching, mending and repairing, skills she venerates, though derided in the past as “woman’s work”, Wall explores her emotional responses to the past and women’s role within the domestic sphere in her celebration of the deterioration of used and cherished objects.
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The Big Draw comes to the De Morgan Centre in a Drawing Room with a twist
2nd October - 20th October 2012
The Big Draw is a nationwide season of activities aimed at expanding the boundaries of art and engaging communities in creative activities; the theme for 2012 encourages people to explore the universality and power of the line.
We’re excited to be participating in The Big Draw for the first time this year, with an inventive and exciting event that is sure to capture the imagination of all our visitors.
Inspired by the Big Draw theme of ‘lines’, our temporary exhibition space will be transformed into an Arts and Crafts home with a twist. Consisting entirely of drawn outlines and silhouettes, it is up to the visitors to decorate with detail and colour, bringing the room to life, with the help of local artists Susie Prus and Eileen Reed.
In this collaborative project, funded by a Wandsworth Art Grant, you will be encouraged to channel your creativity to draw designs on vases and tiles to decorate the mantel piece and fireplace, draw and colour in stained glass windows, and create curious creatures, beasts and fish to populate the garden and fish pond. We will be inviting local schools to participate and adorn bird cages with three dimensional wire “drawn” birds.
You can wander the gallery to gain inspiration from the beautiful works of William and Evelyn De Morgan, and then try your hand at designing your own patterns in the Drawing Room. You will also be able to interact with the exhibit, rearranging tiles and vases, redecorating the room, and even fishing for creatures in the fish pond!
This exciting exhibition is celebrated with a special drawing event during an exclusive Sunday opening on Sunday 7th October. People of all ages and drawing abilities will be encouraged to contribute their own designs or pieces inspired by the De Morgans, in this event which aims to discover the artist in everyone. Families and young children in particular are encouraged to participate in this exciting drawing event.
Be sure to join us for the De Morgan Centre’s first foray into The Big Draw, and show us your drawing skills!
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Heather Konschuh: Spectrum
31st August - 27th September 2012
The De Morgan Centre is excited to once again welcome Heather Konschuh, in a stunning selling exhibition which promises vibrant colours and flowing forms.
Heather Konschuh is an international glass artist who initially trained in Canada and Australia before coming to live and work in London. She has been blowing glass professionally since 2005.
Spectrum will explore the interplay of light through different translucencies of glass. The exhibition will demonstrate Heather’s masterful techniques of glass blowing, which involves heating glass up to 2000°F and using a series of tools including tweezers, paddles and diamond shears to shape the glass into flowing forms. Heather's glass portfolio has a wide vocabulary of blown forms; however, the unifying theme throughout her work is elegance and simplicity created through form and colour.
In this exhibition of her most recent collection, Heather is particularly fascinated with the variations between opaque and transparent colours within the same piece, with the overlap creating sleek lines and large areas of vibrant colour. She states, “It is important that glass keeps a certain amount of its translucency. Too much opaque colour and it can begin to look like plastic while if it is solely translucent, it can struggle to look grounded; it’s a fine balance”.
Selected pieces of Heather’s work have been available for purchase in the De Morgan Centre shop throughout the year, but this is the first time the temporary exhibition space will be dedicated completely to a selling exhibition of her glassware. The selection of vessels, bowls and jewellery demonstrate the dynamic nature of glass as an artist’s medium. Visitors to the gallery will have the opportunity to enjoy Heather’s contemporary forms alongside the work of the De Morgans, artists lauded in their time for their high level of craftsmanship.
Join us from 31st August to 27th September to experience this striking exhibition of Heather's craftsmanship.
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Voyages of Discovery: De Morgans and the Sea
3rd February - 25th August 2012
The sea was a major source of inspiration for the De Morgans, as evidenced by William's galleons, dolphins and sea monsters, and the prevalence of seascapes in Evelyn's paintings. Join us for a journey of ships, sea monsters, shells, sirens and sea monsters in this vibrant exhibition, curated in conjunction with National Trust Standen.
The superlative Galleon tile panel, designed for the P&O ship S.S.Malta in 1895, will be exhibited alongside key pieces from the De Morgan collection, including a spectacular moonlight lustre punch bowl depicting fanciful fish which represents the pinnacle of De Morgan’s technical prowess, and a very rare, early seahorse tile whose production techniques mirror the matt quality of Morris and Co. tiles. Among Evelyn’s exhibited works are the nude male figures of Phosphorous and Hesperus, which, imbued with potent sexual symbolism in the form of phallic torches and conch shells, caused scandal and controversy when first exhibited, and the allegorical ‘S.O.S’ with its symbolic sea monsters representing evil and death.