Margaret Desenfans (1737-1814) [1] or (1731-1814) [2] was one of three founders of Dulwich Picture Gallery.
She was born in Clasemont, Swansea, County Glamorgan, [3] the daughter of Robert Morris (d.1768) and Margaret Morris (née Jenkins). [4] Robert was a Shropshire entrepreneur who had come to Swansea in 1724 to supervise the Llangyfelach Copper Works, founded in 1717, and had taken control of the works when the owner, John Lane, was declared bankrupt in 1726. Her siblings included: Robert (a barrister born c. 1743, a supporter of the radical politician, John Wilkes, who died unmarried c. 1797), Bridget, Jane and Sir John Morris, 1st Baronet. John followed their father as an industrialist, active in copper-smelting and coal-mining in Swansea, South Wales. [4] Morriston, in the Tawe valley, is named after her family. See also the Morris baronets.
In 1757, aged 20, she was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. [1] A copy of this Portrait of Margaret Desenfans was commissioned by Dulwich College in 1930 and executed by Moussa Ayoub. [5]
In 1776, she married the art collector and dealer Noel Desenfans. [6] She, her French husband, and their friend Francis Bourgeois would eventually build up an art collection which became the basis of Dulwich Picture Gallery in London.
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Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, south London. It opened to the public in 1817 and was designed by the Regency architect Sir John Soane. His design was recognized for its innovative and influential method of illumination for viewing the art. It is the oldest public art gallery in England and was made an independent charitable trust in 1994. Until then, the gallery was part of the College of God's Gift, a charitable foundation established by the actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Edward Alleyn in the early 17th century. The acquisition of artworks by its founders and bequests from its many patrons resulted in Dulwich Picture Gallery housing one of the country's finest collections of Old Masters, especially rich in French, Italian and Spanish Baroque paintings, and in British portraits from the Tudor era to the 19th century.
Sir Frank William Brangwyn was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator, and designer.
Jane Morris was an English embroiderer in the Arts and Crafts movement and an artists' model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to her husband William Morris and to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Her sister was the embroiderer and teacher Elizabeth Burden.
Sir Peter Francis Lewis Bourgeois RA was an English landscape painter and history painter, and court painter to king George III of the United Kingdom.
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Sir John Morris, 1st Baronet, was a British industrialist, active in copper-smelting and coal-mining in Swansea, South Wales.
Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portraits, flower paintings and landscapes.
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Christopher David Williams was a Welsh artist.
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Noël Desenfans was a French-born art dealer mainly active in Britain, most notable for laying the foundation for the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London alongside the landscape painter Francis Bourgeois.
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