Evelyn
Pickering
(1855–1919)
Other names: Mary Evelyn Pickering,
Evelyn De Morgan
Biographical
A Pre-Raphaelite painter, Evelyn displayed a talent for drawing from an
early age, and she later decided to become a professional artist, to the
disapproval of her parents. He uncle, the artist John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope,
encouraged her to pursue her interest and he acquainted her with Italian
Renaissance painting which was to later influence her work. From 1873
she studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London where she won several
awards for painting and drawing. She began to travel to Italy between
1975 and 1977, and on her return to London she exhibited her first work,
Ariadne in Naxos, completed in 1875, at the Grosvenor Gallery.
After her marriage to William De Morgan, they moved to Chelsea, but spent
the winters at Florence. Evelyn's work gained critical acclaim and her
income helped her husband finance his pottery business. A prolific artist,
the subjects of her paintings include mythology, literature, and later,
female figures set in landscapes. She was a highly ambitious and
independent artist, and she was influenced by the artists she studied during
her travels
to Italy, particularly Botticelli, with the Pre-Raphaelites influencing
her later works. Her sharp attention to detail and highly accomplished
technical skills were were highly praised, and was she proclaimed as the
best female artist of her time. Evelyn died of nephritis and the house
she had shared with her husband.
Place of birth: London
Place of death: Chelsea, London
Place of burial: Brookwood cemetery, Surrey
Daughter of Percival Pickering and Anna Maria Spencer-Stanhope. She married
William De Morgan in 1887, and had no issue.
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