The Ideal and the Erotic: Drawings by Evelyn De Morgan

1-17 February 2011
Lewis Elton Gallery, University of Surrey

Evelyn De Morgan (née Pickering) 1855-1919, was a successful and prolific artist. Her many paintings and drawings of the female nude are informed by her adherence to the classical ideal of the human form in art and her deep interest in spiritualism. But there is also a distinctive erotic sensibility evident in them.

The exposure of the body through images of the nude was one of the most controversial issues in Victorian art. 19th century artists were pushing boundaries to use the nude body in ways never allowed before, fuelling intense debates about the relationship between art and public morals.

This exhibition explores the divide between naked and nude - the presentation of aestheticised and idealised forms as opposed to the raw, awkward reality of the unclothed body and in so doing places both the artist and today’s viewer in the role of voyeur.

In association with the De Morgan Foundation and Watts GalleryFree entry

Monday - Friday, 10am - 5pm. 
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