The Vision 1914

Evelyn De Morgan's ‘The Vision’ uses oil on canvas to conjure a world of myth and dream, a vision shimmering with feeling. I'm drawn to the way she builds up layers of color, translucent glazes over muted earth tones, it gives the whole scene this otherworldly quality. The surface feels both delicate and substantial. Look at the folds in the robes of the central figure and see how the color is blended, how the brushwork almost disappears. De Morgan is creating an effect, an illusion, not simply depicting a scene. And then there's that winged figure lurking in the background. I get a real sense of the push and pull between beauty and dread, a feeling that nothing is ever quite as it seems. It reminds me of some of the Symbolist painters working around the same time. There’s a similar interest in psychological states, but De Morgan brings her own unique touch. In art, as in life, the questions are often more interesting than the answers.