Evelyn de Morgan

(England, 30/08/1855 - 02/05/1919)

Medea (1889)

As the daughter of an upper-class, aristocratic family born in the middle of the 19th century, de Morgan was actively discouraged from pursuing art, her mother once saying she “wanted a daughter, not an artist”, and going so far as instructing her drawing teacher to tell a young Evelyn she wasn’t a good artist and had no artistic future in an effort to deter her from the arts. Nevertheless, determined to succeed, 17-year-old de Morgan enrolled at the South Kensington art school in 1872, writing in her diary, ‘Art is eternal, but life is short…I have not a moment to lose’.

Frustrated by South Kensington’s traditionalism and the limited effort put into training their female students she soon transferred to the new Slade School, becoming one of their first female pupils. Here, de Morgan thrived and began to incorporate classical and Renaissance motifs into her work, inspired by the likes of Botticelli and the mystic and ethereal qualities of Spiritualism.

While at the Slade, she won several prizes and medals for her life drawing, including a prestigious £50 annual scholarship in 1874 (roughly £7,500 in 2025), the Prize and Silver Medal for Painting from the Antique, First Certificate for Drawing from the Antique and Third Equal Certificate for Composition.

In an effort to have her work judged by the same standards as her male contemporaries, de Morgan began submitting her work under her more gender-ambiguous middle name, Evelyn, rather than her first name, Mary. This would prove to be a necessary change as, right from the beginning of her professional career at the Dudley Gallery in 1876, she would battle against sexist attitudes and strive to be recognised for her skill, rather than her gender.

An active feminist, campaigner for women’s rights and pacifist against the violence of WWI, de Morgan had no interest in sharing the values of movements whose aesthetic qualities she borrowed, instead seeking to use her art to present her own socio-political concerns, hoping they would be a catalyst for change. Not only did she imbue her work with deep political meaning, de Morgan also signed her name on the Declaration in Favour of Women’s Suffrage in 1889.

Image: Evelyn De Morgan, Medea (1889). Pastel on paper, 149.9 x 88.9 cm. National trust, Wightwick Manor, U.K.