Studio: international art (79.1920)

IN MEMORIAM: EVELYN DE MORGAN

IN MEMORIAM: EVELYN DE
MORGAN 0000

WITH the passing of Evelyn De Mor-
gan, the last of an eclectic little
group of rare Victorian painters has ceased.
She was one who, shunning notoriety,
and indifferent to the praise or censure of
the hurrying multitude, worked faithfully
for art's sake; drawing her inspiration
from the same source as the Early Italians,
with whom she was curiously in sympathy.

By nature retiring, she formed friendship
at an early age with those artists who were
imbued with the same aims and lofty ideals
as herself. They had reached the height of
their fame, they belonged to an older
generation ; hence she outlived them by
many years. The modern school of realism
made no appeal to her. 000
The cult to which she gravitated instinc-
tively worshipped beauty, sought it every-
where, and eschewed the bizarre and super-
ficial. In a word, the unseen realms of
imagination were more real to these artists
than material things. They expressed their
message through symbolism : Evelyn De
28

SUMMER RESIDENCE OF MR.
OVE ROHDE, DANISH MINIS-
TER OF THE INTERIOR
DESIGNED BY M. BAUMANN

(See preceding article)

Morgan’s work was permeated with this
precious quality. 0000
The distinguishing features of her art
were her fine spiritual vision, strong imagi-
nation, good composition, and a delight
in sumptuous colour, rich textures and
draperies. The classical rendering was
present in much of her work, with some-
thing of the Botticelli influence. I have
often thought how entirely she would
have harmonized with the period of the
Early Italian masters. She owed much to
her early study of their methods at the
National Gallery, and another influence
which helped in shaping her mentality were
those youthful days coloured and tinged
with the warmth, light and beauty of scenes
viewed under Italian skies. 0 0

Evelyn De Morgan, whose maiden name
was Pickering, was descended from a
highly intellectual family. Her uncle, Mr.
Roddam Spencer-Stanhope, with whom
she spent a good deal of her time in Italy,
was a distinguished artist. She studied for
a time at the Slade School, winning a
scholarship, which she discarded in favour
of studying in Rome. Though she ex-