Meet Director of the De Morgan Foundation, Sarah Hardy.

You can visit the exhibition Decoration or Devotion? in our Historic Gallery. It features many works by William and Evelyn De Morgan, artists that were close friends of George and Mary Watts.

What is your favourite piece of work on display and why?

My favourite painting that’s on display in the De Morgan Gallery is Luna by Evelyn De Morgan, which was painted in 1885, as you can see this depicts a woman sitting in the crescent moon shape. If you look closely, you can see that she’s tied on by ropes, but these have become quite loose. Evelyn De Morgan was a spiritualist and she believed in the progression of the human soul through the body during the lifetime and its extension behind human life, as though it could exist on its own. Here in this painting, she has aligned that with the moon, as a body that is held by gravity between the sun and earth. It’s neither heaven or earth-bound and that’s exactly how she saw the human soul. I also just love the colouring of this picture; I think the cool greys and moody blues really do give it an ethereal moonlight glow.

What is your favourite fact about the De Morgans?

My favourite fact about the De Morgans is that they met at a fancy-dress party. Evelyn De Morgan was dressed as a tube of rose madder paint, which is red paint colour. William De Morgan saw her and quipped that he was ‘madder still’. After a three-year engagement, the two married in 1887.

What is your favourite way to get creative in your free time?

In my free time, I like to get creative by drawing from life and drawing flowers. I’ve taken art classes in drawing floral paintings and botanical drawings; I think it’s a lovely way to unwind.

What is a lesser-known fact about the De Morgans that you can share with us?

A lesser-known fact about the De Morgans that I can tell you today, is a little bit more about Wiliam De Morgan. I think people are aware from Evelyn De Morgans’s paintings that she was a feminist, and often they know that she signed a declaration in favour of women’s suffrage in 1889. I think what a lot of people don’t realise, is that she was fully supported in this by her husband William. He was a campaigner for women’s suffrage and by 1914 he was the Vice President of The Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage. It really shows that the De Morgans’ place was right in the centre of that movement and how much of an early feminist he was.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to explore a career in museums, or visual art galleries?

My advice for anyone who would like to explore the idea of having a career in the arts or museums is to volunteer first and give it a try. The Watts Gallery has an amazing volunteer programme, where you can get involved with helping to welcome the public and give them a little bit more information about the artworks and help us to invigilate the spaces and to keep our artworks and the public safe during their visit. It’s a fantastic way to learn more about the collection, meet people with common interests and find out what some of the other behind the-scenes jobs are.