Page 11 - A Family Of Artists: 360 Tour Guide to De Morgan Collection at Cannon Hall Museum

A Family of Artists THE DE MORGAN COLLECTION
The De Morgans and the Spencer-Stanhopes
This exhibition brings together the work of four artists of the Victorian period who were connected by birth, marriage, heritage and creativity. John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope was a younger son of John and Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope who owned Cannon Hall until 1873. He was an artist closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. This group reflected the work of early Italian painters and included Rossetti, Holman Hunt and Millais.
Roddam encouraged two of his nieces; Evelyn Pickering and Gertrude Spencer-Stanhope to develop their artistic skills. Both women achieved great expertise in their artistic endeavours but it was Evelyn who became a prominent painter. Her highly skilled allegorical works were very popular and she often used her work to express her social and political views.
Evelyn married the ceramic artist William De Morgan and their alliance was happy
and artistically beneficial. Their visits to Italy influenced their work greatly with Evelyn studying early Florentine paintings and William studying Renaissance ceramics.
They were referred to as 'two of the rarest spirits of the age'.
www.demorgan.org.uk www.cannon-hall.com