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William Morris

William Morris was a 19th century British designer, artist, writer, and socialist activist. He helped establish the Arts and Crafts movement which promoted traditional craftsmanship over industrial mass production. Morris was a prolific designer of wallpaper, textiles, stained glass windows and more, drawing inspiration from medieval styles and nature. He founded several companies and organizations to promote socialist ideals and traditional crafts.

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Sneha Periwal
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391 views19 pages

William Morris

William Morris was a 19th century British designer, artist, writer, and socialist activist. He helped establish the Arts and Crafts movement which promoted traditional craftsmanship over industrial mass production. Morris was a prolific designer of wallpaper, textiles, stained glass windows and more, drawing inspiration from medieval styles and nature. He founded several companies and organizations to promote socialist ideals and traditional crafts.

Uploaded by

Sneha Periwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WILLIAM MORRIS

- Sanket Parmar
Roll No : 29
INDEX

• OVERVIEW OF WILLIAM MORRIS


• INTRODUCTION
• EDUCATION(1848-1855)
• PAINTER(1856-1857)
• POET & AUTHOR
• RED HOUSE
• PATTERNS FROM NATURE
• THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT
• TEXTILE DESIGN
• SOCIALIST(1883)
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
OVERVIEW OF WILLIAM MORRIS
INTRODUCTION

• William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October


1896) was a British textile designer, poet ,
architect, novelist, translator, and socialist
activist associated with the British Arts and
Crafts Movement.
• William Morris is best known as the 19th
century's most celebrated designer.
• He was a major contributor to the revival of
traditional British textile arts and methods of
production.
EDUCATION(1848-1855)

• 9 Oct 1848,educated at Marlborough college, there he learned very little


about architecture.

• 25 Dec 1851,attended Forest School, here he lived as a private pupil with


the Rev. F. B. Guy, Assistant Master. Then later to Canon of St. Alban's, for a
year to prepare him for University.

• 9 Jun 1852,attended Oxford Exeter College, he wasn't able to go till 1853


because the school was too full, he met Edward Jones and joined a
Brotherhood group but at this college he began to write poems.
PAINTER(1856-1857)

•1856, begins work in the architectural office of G E Street. Meets Phillip


Webb and, later that year, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Morris abandons his
fledgling career in architecture and becomes an artist.

•1857, Morris, Burne-Jones, Rossetti and various others paint the Oxford Union
frescoes. Meets Jane Burden, one of Rossetti's models
POET & AUTHOR

• 10 Oct 1858, first booked published, his book " The Defence of
Guinevere and Other Poems" was published.

• William Morris continued to find time to write poetry and prose, The Life
and Death of Jason (1867)

• 10 Oct 1868, another book, The Earthly Paradise

• 10 Oct 1870, another published book, the Volksunga Saga


RED HOUSE

• The building's design was a co-operative effort, with Morris focusing on


the interiors and the exterior being designed by Webb, for whom the
House represented his first commission as an independent architect.

• Morris wanted the house to be a place that reflected his ideals and
celebrated art, craftsmanship, and community.

• Morris and Webb collaborated to make the house’s architecture and


interior design merge into a unified whole. This would provide the
appropriate atmosphere to foster domestic harmony and instill creative
energy in its inhabitants and visitors.
• Morris and Webb designed the house in a simplified Tudor Gothic style.
The features of this style include historicizing elements such as steep
roofs, prominent chimneys, cross gables, and exposed-beam ceilings,
all present in Red House.
• For Morris and Webb, the adoption of a specifically English form of Gothic
architecture seemed natural and appropriate to the site.

PLAN OF RED HOUSE


• The use of exposed red brick for the exterior both gave the house its
name and reveals the innate beauty of the construction materials.
• Morris and Webb valued the specific beauty of natural materials, which
they saw as far superior to and healthier than industrially produced
materials.
• Red House is L-shaped, with the rooms laid out for maximum efficiency
and clarity.
• The L-shaped plan also allows the house to embrace the gardens as a
part of the domestic sphere, as well as creates an asymmetry that is
typical of traditional Gothic structures that were built over long periods of
time.
• The concept of an integral whole extended to the interior design as
well. Webb, Morris, his wife, Jane, and the painter Edward Burne-Jones
all worked together to design everything in the home, from the wallpaper
to the stained-glass windows to the built-in cabinets and furniture, so that
all celebrated the beauty of nature and the medieval guild ideal.
PATTERNS FROM NATURE

• Morris was one of the great pattern designers. His classic designs are still
commercially available as wallpapers and textiles.
• Morris' design for 'Trellis', his first attempt at a wallpaper design, was
based on roses growing over trellises in the garden at the Red House, his
classic Arts and Crafts Movement home, at Bexleyheath in Kent.
• The pattern shows a medieval influence as it is recalls the ornamental
decoration to be found on illuminated manuscripts and tapestries.

WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896) 'Trellis', 1862


(pencil and watercolour sketch for wallpaper
design)
• The creative approach that William Morris employed in his designs was
revealed in a lecture from 1874: 'first, diligent study of Nature and
secondly, study of the work of the ages of Art’.

• Morris felt that the 'diligent study of Nature' was important, as nature
was the perfect example of God's design.

WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)


'Windrush', 1881-83 (pencil and
watercolour sketch for textile design)
THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT

• The Arts and Crafts Movement (1850-1900) was a reaction against the
Industrial Revolution.

• The members of the Arts and Crafts Movement included artists,


architects, designers, craftsmen and writers.

• They feared that industrialization was destroying the


environment in which traditional skills and crafts could prosper, as
machine production had taken the pride, skill and design out of
the quality of goods being manufactured.
TEXTILE DESIGN

• During his lifetime, Morris produced items in a range of crafts, mainly


those to do with furnishing, including over 600 designs for wall-paper,
textiles, and embroideries, over 150 for stained glass windows, three
typefaces, and around 650 borders and ornamentations for the Kelmscott
Press.

• In the field of textile design, Morris revived a number of dead techniques ,


and insisted on the use of good quality raw materials, almost all natural
dyes, and hand processing. He also observed the natural world first hand to
gain a basis for his designs, and insisted on learning the techniques of
production prior to producing a design.
Cabbage and vine tapestry, 1879. Design for "Tulip and Willow“ A Wooden Pattern for Textile
indigo-discharge wood-block Printing from William
printed fabric, 1873. Morris's Company
SOCIALIST(1883)

• 10 Oct 1883, Morris had become a socialist after becoming


disillusioned with Gladstone's Liberal Government. Morris joined the
Social Democratic Federation (SDF) and began contributing articles to
its journal Justice. was soon in dispute with the party leader, H. H.
Hyndman. Morris shared Hyndman's Marxist beliefs, but objected to
Hyndman's nationalism and the dictatorial methods he used to run the
party.

• 1884-1890, Publishes Art and Socialism and A Summary of the


Principles of Socialism. Founds the Socialist League. Becomes deeply
involved in political activism, and is arrested in connection with free
speech demonstrations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

• https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/introducing-william-morris
• https://williammorrissociety.org/about-william-morris/
• https://www.wmgallery.org.uk/
• https://www.historyhit.com/who-was-william-morris-and-why-was-he-
important/

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