The Gilded Cage 1919

Evelyn De Morgan created this painting, called The Gilded Cage, with oil on canvas. The first thing that strikes me is the contrast between the figures in the foreground and the scene outside the window. De Morgan is playing with us, contrasting freedom and imprisonment, literally setting them side by side. Look closely at the woman's dress. It's painted with a sort of loving detail, folds and highlights rendered with such care. But that level of attention actually makes me uncomfortable because she’s stuck inside, in this really ornate interior with a sad looking man. Then, through the window, there’s a whole world of people, of dancing, and of a much looser, more free way of painting, like De Morgan just flicked paint onto the canvas. It’s all implied, a kind of shorthand. Maybe she wants us to feel the way the woman in the dress is feeling, desperate for the freedom that’s so close, yet so far.