One of the most remarkable artists of her generation, Evelyn De Morgan, returns to Guildhall Art Gallery this year in a major exhibition that premieres two newly restored artworks.
In collaboration with the De Morgan Foundation, the Corporation’s gallery will present ‘Evelyn De Morgan: The Modern Painter in Victorian London’, from 4 April 2025 to celebrate the work of an extraordinary artist who flew in the face of convention.
While exhibiting her paintings in London, a selection of Evelyn De Morgan’s work was included in a ‘Collection of the British School who Have Flourished during Her Majesty’s reign’ at Guildhall Art Gallery in 1897.
More recently, one of her paintings was featured in the gallery’s ‘Enchanted Interior’ exhibition in 2020.
Evelyn De Morgan’s richly coloured canvases, featuring beautifully draped figures laden with messages of feminism, spirituality, and the rejection of war and material wealth, won her many high-profile admirers, including Oscar Wilde, Sir Charles Dilke MP, and the Pre-Raphaelite painter, William Holman Hunt.
The exhibition will introduce Evelyn De Morgan as an artist, offering insights into her artistic process and technique, before delving into her developing career and focusing on her engagement with cultural events in London, such as attending theatrical performances, and sermons.
Studies that she made while studying at the Slade School of Art in her late teens will be displayed alongside paintings from her exhibitions at Grosvenor Gallery, New Gallery, and Fine Art Society will be on display. The exhibition will also include a series of paintings made in response to the horrors of the First World War, which De Morgan exhibited at her Fulham studio in 1916 to raise money for the Red Cross.
Student conservators from the Courtauld Institute of Art were invited by the De Morgan Foundation to restore two paintings, which will be shown for the first time to the public in a display curated by conservation and art history students.
De Morgan’s enduring legacy will provide the focus for the third section of the exhibition, which will outline the history of the De Morgan Foundation and include ceramics by William De Morgan, Evelyn’s husband, and pictures of the collection at Old Battersea House.
Chairman of the Corporation’s Culture, Heritage, and Libraries Committee, Munsur Ali, said:
“For the third time, Evelyn De Morgan’s beautiful paintings will be on show at Guildhall Art Gallery, so we are very grateful to the De Morgan Foundation for working with us on this major exhibition.
“My colleagues at the gallery have expressed their pride at presenting its second consecutive solo female exhibition, following the extended run of the very popular ‘Anne Desmet: Kaleidoscope/London.’”
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the De Morgan Foundation, Jean McMeakin, said:
“As an artist who lived, studied, and worked in London, alongside her husband William the celebrated Arts & Crafts ceramicist – who had his own show here in 2018 – we are delighted to be showcasing Evelyn De Morgan’s exquisite works at Guildhall Art Gallery in its second female solo show, in a most welcome return.
“A pioneering female artist with a social conscience and a remarkable self-possession, which allowed her to pursue her goals in the face of societal conventions, her works beautifully compliment and engage with the art gallery’s own collection.
“The exhibition will provide an opportunity to explore and evaluate her work more fully as a professional female artist in Victorian London.”
Following the success of a flexible, ‘pay what you can’ admission charge for two of the art gallery’s previous exhibitions, it will also be applicable for ‘Evelyn De Morgan: The Modern Painter in Victorian London.’
Guildhall Art Gallery is an integral part of the City’s rich and vibrant arts and cultural offering, and forms part of Destination City, the Corporation’s growth strategy for the Square Mile as a world-leading business and leisure location.
The Corporation is one of the largest funders of heritage and cultural activities in the UK and invests over £130m every year. The organisation manages a range of world-class cultural and heritage institutions, including the Barbican Centre, Tower Bridge, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Guildhall Art Gallery, The London Archives, and Keats House. It also supports the London Symphony Orchestra and the new London Museum.
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