Coordinates: 51°27′26″N 0°12′2″W / 51.45722°N 0.20056°W / 51.45722; -0.20056
The De Morgan Centre for the Study of 19th Century Art and Society is a museum and gallery in the London Borough of Wandsworth, England, it is home to a large collection of the work of the Victorian ceramic artist William De Morgan and his wife, the painter Evelyn De Morgan.
The ceramics collection includes vases, tiles and panels. William De Morgan is credited with the rediscovery of the art of lustre. His work was influenced by the Islamic tiles he saw at the South Kensington Museum. Evelyn de Morgan's art is notable for her rich use of colour and her emphasis on strong female protagonists. The De Morgans were involved in the social issues of the day such as women's suffrage, and this engagement is covered by the museum.
The collection was formed by Evelyn De Morgan's sister, Mrs Wilhelmina Stirling, who wrote several books under the name A.M.W. Stirling. It had been previously on display at her home, Old Battersea House. In the years following her death in 1965 parts of the collection were displayed at a number of locations including Cardiff Castle, Cragside in Northumberland and Knightshayes Court in Devon, all of which have interiors from the years when the De Morgans were active. In 2002, it was rehoused at the former West Hill Reference Library in Wandsworth, in south west London, which dates from 1887.
The De Morgan Centre is open to the public five days a week. There is a programme of exhibitions of work by contemporary designers.
Famous quotes containing the words morgan and/or centre:
“The subtlest and most vicious aspect of women’s oppression is that we have been conditioned to believe we are not oppressed, blinded so as not to see our own condition.”
—Robin Morgan (b. 1941)
“To make our idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow-men a secret element of gusto.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)