In this painting an evil-omen red sun sets in the background. A bat-winged dark-faced demon looms behind two allegorical figures, one of the goddess Demeter, the other of the goddess Pax. War threatening Peace and Prosperity.

S.O.S.

Date painted: 1916
Location: The De Morgan Foundation, Battersea, London, England

Exhibited at the Red Cross Benefit Exhibition, 1916.

"For S.O.S. De Morgan takes her title from the Morse Code cry for help that is telegraphed from those who are in imminent danger to those who they hope can rescue them. Such a title lends a dramatic sense of urgency to a work that shows a female figure standing upon a solitary rock of refuge as she is besieged by thundering waves and a myriad of sea serpents. The literal translation of the message ("save our souls") also conveys a sense of what really is at stake when the forces of evil threaten to overcome the innocent and the good.

With her hands outstretched and her eyes turned towards heaven, the figure seeks both physical and spiritual deliverance from her plight. Many interpretations of this allegorical figure are possible but all imply her innocence. The artist may have meant this vulnerable figure in her spotless white robe to be emblematic of all the innocent victims of the war...from the beleagured nations of Europe (such as Serbia or the neutral Belgium) to the inexperienced young soldiers. She may represent civilization under siege by the forces of disorder. Another possibility is that the figure is emblematic of Britain's own loss of innocence during the Great War. At the same time that innocence is being sacrificed, De Morgan holds out hope for eventual salvation by placing the biblical symbol of a rainbow in the painting. Just as after the Deluge a rainbow appeared to Noah and his family as a symbol of reassurance from a merciful God, this victim is also offered a sign of eventual deliverance."

Source: 'Evelyn de Morgan: oil paintings', De Morgan Foundation 1996, p.83.

The Field of the Slain

Date painted: 1916
Location: Unknown
 

The Red Cross
(allegory of Flanders war graves) A Christ of the Battlefield

Date painted: 1916
Location: The De Morgan Foundation, Battersea, London, England


 

Biography

Evelyn De Morgan was born in London in 1855, the eldest child of lawyer Percival Pickering QC and niece of the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Roddam Spencer Stanhope. Evelyn began lessons with a drawing master at the age of 15, followed by prize-winning studies at South Kensington and Slade Schools; in 1875 she paid her first visit to Italy. Her exhibition debut in 1876 at the Dudley Gallery with 'St Catherine of Alexandria' was followed by an invitation to show at the Grosvenor Gallery, where she exhibited regularly. In 1887 she married William de Morgan, ceramicist and associate of William Morris, with whom she shared a deep interest in spiritualism.

From 1888 to 1901, she became a regular exhibitor at the New Gallery, establishing a reputation as an artist influenced by Burne-Jones. Her preferred subjects included sacred and allegorical figures and scenes, and legends with a moral or social message such as 'The Christian Martyr' and 'The Worship of Mammon', treated in a fashion that exploited her superior drawing skills and design sense, with striking color and billowing draperies, often on a very large scale.
From 1890-1914, for the sake of William’s health, the couple divided their time between Chelsea and Florence; together they devised a painting method utilizing glycerin which, though too troublesome to pursue, produced the clear, bright tones they sought. Her 1902 exhibition at Leighton House was followed by a solo show at Bruton Gallery (1906) and an exhibition of 25 works at Wolverhampton Art Gallery (1907).

In 1916, her horror of the war led her to mount an exhibition of 13 works for the benefit of the Red Cross. De Morgan died in London in 1919, two years after her husband. Subsequently her brother and sister made arrangements for her works to be shown permanently, first at Leighton House and then Old Battersea House; now owned by the De Morgan Foundation, they form one of the largest existing permanent collections of work by a single artist in Britain.
 
 

Dona nobis pacem; grant us peace.