William Morris
1834-1896

Morris was an English poet, artist, and socialist reformer, who rejected the opulence on the Victorian era and urged a return to medieval traditions of design, craftsmanship, and community. He was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin who championed the return of gothic architecture (the last true architectural movement in their opinion.)

Spurred by the experience of furnishing his home, Red House, Morris set up a studio in 1861 with several associates, including architect Philip Webb and English artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. In 1875 he reorganized the partnership into Morris & Co. Morris' designed were realistic. He pulled from the nature around him as did the medieval tapestry artists before him. You will find striking similarities between his work and the "Lady and the Unicorn" in the Cluny Museum (Paris). He traditional methods, often obtaining dyes from vegetables. He perfected the use of woodblocks for printing wallpaper and textiles.The idea of the house as a total work of art, with all of the interior objects designed by the architect, emerged from this studio and remained standard practice throughout the Arts and Crafts movement.

He established the Kelmscott Press in 1890, and, using his own designs for the type and ornamental letters, he issued editions of the classics and of his own works, notably The Kelmscott Chaucer (1896). In his political writings, he attempted to correct the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution by proposing a form of society in which people could enjoy craftsmanship and simplicity of expression.