MORGANS, Phyllis May

1911 - 2001

As Phyllis May Murdock, she was born at 67 Sketty Road, Enfield, Middlesex on 29 August 1911, second child of Sidney George Murdock (26 April 1880-20 March 1971), drapery warehouseman, and his wife Annie Elizabeth née Thompson (19 November 1879-25 May 1966), who married at Edmonton in 1908, Phyllis's elder brother Leonard Arthur had been born in 1909. Phyllis studied at St Martins School of Art where her principal subject was fashion design but later turned to painting, initially portraiture and illustration. She married at Edmonton in 1935, a Welshman, Dr Wilfred Morley Morgans (27 August 1907-1999), a chemist, and Phyllis painted under the name of Phyllis Morgans. In 1939, Phyllis was living at Millman Southend Farm, Dursley, Gloucestershire when her husband was at Great Western Hotel, Temple Gate, Bristol. A member of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and made an Honorary Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers. Phyllis painted in oils and sold many of her paintings at Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds. She exhibited at the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and held a considerable number of solo shows and many of her works have been reproduced, several in the 'Laing' calendars. Phyllis May Morgans lived and worked at The Green, Walberswick, Suffolk from 1971 and departed for Spain in 1989 but she died at Ipswich on 12 May 2001. Her work is well represented in both private and public collections, including that of the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. Her daughter Helen Morgans (born 1937) is a well-known Colchester, Essex based artist who exhibited at the 'Visions of Sudbury' at St Peter's Church in 2009 an acrylic 'Summertime, Market Hill' and is a member of Dedham Art Society.

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Works by This Artist