Evelyn De Morgan
The Modern Painter in Victorian London
Evelyn De Morgan returns to Guildhall Art Gallery in London, in a major exhibition that explores her life and work in the city.
Follow Evelyn’s artistic journey, from her aspirations to be an artist as a young girl, her time at the Slade School of Art, her early success as a professional artist, and enjoy many of her most famous works. The exhibition offers insights into her artistic process and technique, her career, and her engagement with cultural life in London, and includes rarely seen works from the De Morgan Collection, as well as two newly restored paintings on show for the first time, along with two faithful recreations of paintings which were destroyed by fire in 1991
From 4th April 2025 to 4th January 2026
Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall Yard, London EC2V 5AE – open daily 10am to 5pm
Young Ambition
Educated at home by tutors, Evelyn was taught alongside her brothers in Latin, Greek, French, German, and Italian, classical literature, mythology, and the sciences. She showed artistic flair from an early age and started drawing lessons when she was 15. Women of Evelyn’s class were expected to practice certain ‘accomplishments’ such as needlework, piano, and painting dainty watercolours. Evelyn’s mother was very much against her ambition to be an artist, which was not deemed socially acceptable. Despite opposition at home Evelyn persevered in her efforts to be a painter. She was encouraged by her uncle, professional artist John Roddam Spenser Stanhope, and through him Evelyn developed friendships with Pre-Raphaelite painters Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, as well as with other key figures in the Victorian literary and artistic world.
On the morning of her 17th birthday, she wrote in her diary:
“17 today, that is to say seventeen years wasted in eating, dawdling and frittering time away. Art is eternal, but life is short… I will make up for it now, I have not a moment to lose.”
In 1873 Evelyn passed the entrance examination for the Slade School of Art, one of the first women to join. During her time at the Slade Evelyn was awarded the prestigious Slade Scholarship and won several awards, including a silver medal for drawing. Around this time she started to use her middle name, used for both men and women at the time, submitting her work as Evelyn Pickering so that she would be judged on merit, the same as her male peers. Once she had graduated from the Slade Evelyn continued to draw every day, and continued to develop and experiment with her technique throughout her life.
Early Success
Evelyn sold her first painting in 1875 while still a student at the Slade, and the following year first exhibited professionally at the Dudley Art Gallery in London. Her debut there was so successful that she received an invitation to exhibit at the inaugural show at the influential Grosvenor Gallery, where her works hung alongside those of Watts, Rossetti, Burne-Jones, and Leighton, and were admired by critics such as Oscar Wilde, who considered her paintings worthy of mention.
‘Ariadne’ is one of Evelyn’s earliest paintings, painted shortly after she left the Slade, and was also the first that she exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery. Like many of Evelyn’s earliest works, it is painted in a neo-classical style and inspired by Greek mythology.
Life as a Professional Artist
Evelyn exhibited widely and regularly, sending works to annual exhibitions in Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, including a one-woman show at Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 1907. These exhibitions enabled her to find buyers and patrons around the UK, including the Liverpool shipowner William Imrie, owner of the White Star Line.
Evelyn continued to exhibit her paintings in London galleries. In 1897 she was included in a “Collection of the British School who Have Flourished during Her Majesty’s reign” at the Guildhall Art Gallery.
‘The Storm Spirits’, ‘Earthbound’, ‘Blindness and Cupidity Chasing Joy from the City’, and ‘Port After Stormy Seas’ were displayed at Leighton House in 1902, in one of the first exhibitions after this studio home became a museum. One of Evelyn’s recurring themes of the rejection of earthly riches in favour of spiritual fulfilment is clearly demonstrated.
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London and Florence
Evelyn bought her first home in London in Chelsea. Six months later, on 5th March 1887, Evelyn married William De Morgan and he moved into her home, where they lived together happily until 1910. They met at a party where she was dressed as a tube of rose madder paint, to which William quipped he was “madder still”. They held joint Sunday studio tours of their artworks at 45 Great Marlborough Street.
After 1890, the De Morgans had their own apartment in Florence and would spend the winters there, avoiding the cold London weather on account of William’s health. Although living in Italy during the winter from 1890 – 1914, William and Evelyn maintained their ties with London. They visited George and Mary Watts at their home in Surrey and were great friends with William and Jane Morris and their daughter May. In 1907 Evelyn became a founder member of the Women’s Guild of Arts, formed by May Morris.
Despite being chief breadwinner at home and financially supporting her husband’s business, at the time women were still subject to many societal restrictions. Many of Evelyn’s works address issues of Patriarchy, the lack of female self-determination, and the inability to vote. William supported her views and became Vice President of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage in 1914.
Following the outbreak of the First World War, the De Morgans stayed in London. They were horrified by the conflict and Evelyn wanted to make a difference. The last exhibition she held was in her studio in Fulham in 1916 and she donated all proceeds to the British Red Cross.
On Boxing Day 1916 the De Morgans were visited by an Officer in the Royal Flying Corps. Shortly after that visit William became ill with what was known as trench fever but was probably influenza. He died on 15th January 1917. Evelyn survived William by only two years, she died on 2nd May 1919.
They are buried together in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, with a headstone designed by Evelyn.
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How to visit:
Evelyn De Morgan: Modern Artist in Victorian London
Exhibition open from 4th April 2025 to 4th January 2026
Guildhall Art Gallery, Guildhall Yard, London EC2V 5AE
Open daily 10am to 5pm
More details here
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