I fell in love with the art of Evelyn de Morgan at the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition Pre-Raphaelite Sisters back in 2019. Sometimes described as a third generation Pre-Raphaelite, the term has been often decried as belittling her status - but the fact is she was painting in a Pre-Raphaelite style, even though she wasn't born until 1855, seven years after the 'Brotherhood' was founded. The description is in some ways 

accurate... and yet she was so much more. 

Born Mary Evelyn Pickering, she chose to be known by her middle name because it could be used for either men or women - and, as a Guardian reviewer wrote in 1876, 'it is surprising for more reasons than one to find out [the artist] is a lady'. Why should it have been so surprising? Well, she had exhibited 'an exceedingly well-posed, richly coloured, and above all expressive figure' - the implication being that women were not supposed to be able to do any of these things.

Her work includes images of powerful and misunderstood women, and she reclaims their histories for the greater good. She was an ardent supporter of the women's suffrage movement, and her husband William would later serve as Vice-President of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage. Both were also committed pacifists. In the days when women were supported by their husbands, her income helped to support William's unprofitable career as a ceramicist... Her strength of character and originality of thought are boldly expressed in her powerful paintings. 

 The exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery - by far the least visited of London's free museums - recalls an exhibition of her work there in 1897. Praised by critics, and with fans including such luminaries as Oscar Wilde, her work fell out of favour after her death, and is only now beginning to regain the recognition it so richly deserves. 

 Please remember, I do not record my talks.