In 1877 he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to campaign against the damage caused by Victorian architectural ‘restoration’.Įmbracing Marxism and influenced by anarchism, in the 1880s Morris became a committed revolutionary socialist activist. He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels, namely The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball (1888), the utopian News from Nowhere (1890), and the fantasy romance The Well at the World’s End (1896). Alongside his work for the firm, Morris produced a series of English-language translations of Icelandic sagas with Eiríkr Magnússon, as he was greatly inspired by his visits to Iceland. ![]() He moved his London home to Kelmscott House, the current home of the Society, in 1878. In 1875, Morris assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co and it subsequently traded until 1940, its longevity a testament to the success of Morris’s designs,įrom 1871 Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire. The firm fast became highly fashionable and much in demand, and it profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. They were a group of like-minded artists and craftsmen responding to the shoddy practises of much of the Victorian manufacturing. Morris founded his firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co in 1861 with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others. His friend Philip Webb designed Morris a family home, Red House in Kent, where the latter lived from 1859 to 1865, before relocating to Bloomsbury, central London. Morris would become one of the most significant figures in the arts and crafts movement, a man of far ranging creativity and knowledge. This was the beginning of a remarkable career spanning several disciplines – artist, author, craftsman, and social activist. The two fostered in him an increasing interest in art and architecture. ![]() After university he trained as an architect, married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with the Pre-Raphaelite artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones, with whom he formed a deep and lasting friendship. He was swayed from his initial intention of taking holy orders by the social commentaries of writers such as Thomas Carlyle, Charles Kingsley and John Ruskin. Morris was privately educated from 13, at Marlborogh College, before matriculating to read Theology at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1853. By all accounts, Morris enjoyed an idyllic childhood growing up in the countryside, playing with his siblings and reading books as obscure as The Arabian Nights and John Gerard’s Herball, showing his early interests in both nature and storytelling. His natural ability in reading and writing went hand-in-hand with his developing interest in the wildlife and flowers surrounding him, and this love of the natural world would have a growing influence on his work. They had eight children in total, who survived until adulthood, and moved again to the Water House in Walthamstow, following William Morris Snr’s untimely death in 1847. His success with the firm led to the family moving, in 1840 to Woodford Hall in Essex, with their four young children. ![]() On 24 March 1834 at Elm House, Walthamstow, William Morris was born to affluent parents Emma Morris (nee Shelton) and William Morris Snr, who by this point was a senior partner at brokers firm Sanderson & Co. ![]() William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a revolutionary force in Victorian Britain: his work as an artist, designer, craftsman, writer and socialist dramatically changed the fashions and ideologies of the era.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |