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Study of drapery
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
White pastel on brown paper. Two interconnected pieces of drapery.
Study of clothed standing female, associated with ‘OPES’
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
White pastel on brown paper. Face, hands and feet in little detail, focus is on the drapery which is gathered at the waist. Related to ‘OPES’
Study of female clothing from the waist down
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
White pastel on brown paper. Clothing knotted around the waist. Blooming.
Pencil drawing of an antique statue, standing male nude
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Tonal pencil drawing of a male statue with drapery over left arm. Crease on left hand side of the drawing. Heightened with white chalk on the drapery, head, chest and shoulder.
Study of female figures associated with ‘St. Christina Giving her Father’s Jewels to the Poor’
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Study of three female figures, a nude female holding a round object, a clothed female in same position, a study of clothing of the female in same position. White pastel on brown paper. Associated with ‘St. Christina Giving her Father’s Jewels to the Poor’. However, the pose is not as close to the painting as the other associated studies for this painting and so the attribution is tentative.
Study of a reclining female figure from a tomb (recto) and sketch associated with ‘The Spear of Ithuriel’ (verso)
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Study of a female figure reclining on a cushion, hands clasped on bosom in the style of a medieval effigy / tomb, white pastel on brown paper. Light pencil sketches on back for the ‘Spear of Ithuriel’
Study of female figures for ‘The Mourners’
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Study of standing female nude for ‘The Coming of Peace’
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
This is a compositional study for a painting which was destroyed in a fire in 1991. The painting is one of a series which Evelyn painted in response to war. Though the scene in ‘The Coming of Peace’ is one of horror and destruction, it indicates the beginning of an end to the conflict. Here a figure, crowned with a laurel wreath, carrying an olive branch, and enclosed within a rainbow aureole, stands at the edge of an abyss where she beholds pair of beseeching bloody hands. This white-clad figure, when contrasted with that in her painting ‘S.O.S.’, is a saviour not a victim. Behind her lie the devastated ruins of civilisation, indicating that she cannot be triumphant in her victory. Again De Morgans attitude is clearly pacifist and devoid of traces of jingoism or false patriotism.
Compositional study of male and female figures for ‘The Search-Light’
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
This is a compositional study for an oil painting which was exhibited in the Red Cross Exhibition in 1916. The painting was described in that catalogue as follows: Wielded by an Angel the search-light reveals the diabolical source of all the ruin and devastation portrayed in this picture. In ‘The Search-Light’ the forces of good and evil directly confront one another. Here the forces of evil, portrayed as a satanic figure with bat like wings, hovers over a desolate landscape in which figures take refuge in ruined buildings, symbolic of the collapse of civilization. Opposing this diabolical force is a winged angel, representing hope and salvation, who illuminates the landscape with a search light which repels the infernal forces. In the final painting the same redemptive angel also casts a rainbow over the landscape signifying hope for the future. Images representing the struggle between the forces of light and darkness are found repeatedly in Evelyns work and spiritualist writings.
Study of seated male figure for ‘The Poor Man Who Saved the City’
Artist: De Morgan, Evelyn
Study of seated male figure by Evelyn De Morgan for her painting ‘The Poor Man Who Saved the City’ (P_EDM_0008)
