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The De Morgan Foundation

A Technical Investigation into the Materials and Methods of Evelyn De Morgan

Hosted by: The De Morgan Foundation

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What's On / Past events / A Technical Investigation into the Materials and Methods of Evelyn De Morgan

Past Event Information

Feb. 8, 2024
- 5:30 p.m.

Gallery 11

The De Morgan Foundation

A talk by Alexandra Earl exploring the materials and techniques employed by Pre-Raphaelite painter, Evelyn De Morgan.

Through close technical examination and art historical analysis of two paintings, 'Queen Eleanor and the Fair Rosamund' (1901-02) and 'In Memoriam' (1890-1919), Alexandra Earl will illustrate how De Morgan’s practice was influenced by her Pre-Raphaelite contemporaries as well as driven by her artistic training and own idiosyncratic methods. New primary material, coupled with the first in-depth scientific analysis of her paintings and palette, has enabled De Morgan’s oeuvre to be better understood – thus contributing to the expanding recognition of De Morgan as an artist in her own right.


About the speaker

Alexandra Earl is in her final year of studying the Conservation of Easel Paintings at The Courtauld Institute of Art. Whilst completing a Bachelor’s degree in Art History and Master’s degree in Technical Art History, she has provided public presentations on the relationships between poetry and art during the Renaissance and Romanticism era. Earl has interned as a Paintings Conservator at Southampton City Art Gallery, Oxford University, The Houses of Parliament, and Tate Britain. Her passion and interest in Pre-Raphaelitism stemmed from her studies of Victorian literature and by replicating Pre-Raphaelite paintings and drawings. Through internships and studying at The Courtauld, Earl has investigated nineteenth-century British painting practice by examining and conserving artworks, including those by Evelyn De Morgan, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and J. M. W. Turner.

Image credit: (detail) Alexandra Earl, courtesy Alexandra Earl.
 

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About the Hosts

The De Morgan Foundation

The De Morgan Foundation

William and Evelyn De Morgan were artists who believed that their artwork could make the world a better, more beautiful place. They were married in 1887, entering into an equal partnership in which each supported the other in artistic endeavours. Evelyn De Morgan (1855 - 1919) painted stunning canvases, inspired by the Aesthetic movement, and Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which promoted her feminist, spiritualist, and pacifist agendas. She was a true professional whose commercial success kept the couple, and enabled William De Morgan (1839 - 1917) to maintain his pottery business. William's unique ceramics were handmade in Chelsea, Merton Abbey, and Fulham by a small team of dedicated staff, upholding William Morris's Arts and Crafts Movement ideals that objects should be both beautiful and useful.
 
Upon the deaths of the artists, Evelyn's Younger sister Wilhelmina Stirling began collecting as much of the De Morgan's artwork as she could, believing in the power of their art to transform and uplift the lives of others with its beauty. She left her collection in trust upon her death, and the De Morgan Foundation was registered as an independent charity in 1967.
 
Today, The aims of the charity are as follows:
  • To care for the De Morgan Collection and provide public access to it
  • To provide information about and interpretation of the Collection on many levels, and to promote the appreciation of art and education in art and allied subjects
  • The Foundation offers the widest possible access to the Collection to the public via strategic partnerships with complementary organisations across the country, through a series of loans and temporary exhibitions.
It also provides an online, searchable database of the collection and images of the artworks themselves, as well as information about the collection and the life and work of the De Morgans.

The Foundation also runs educational programmes, activities, talks and events, to encourage exploration, understanding, appreciation of and insight into the Collection.