WILLIAM MORRIS: Artist Craftsman Pioneer

A big and very beautiful gallery which showcases the very best of this multi-faceted genus. The first section tells the story of the extraordinary life of William Morris, his time in Oxford and his unorthodox marriage right up to his eventual death at Kelmscott Manor. It reveals his fascinating progression from architectural student and poet into artist, designer and socialist pioneer. It discusses his involvement with John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites, and assesses his legacy for future generations of artists and designers of the Arts & Crafts Movement. The second section focusses on Morris the designer and explores his Daisy and Trellis wallpaper in 1864, to his The Holy Grail tapestries from 1890-94 and takes an in-depth look at his changing artistic styles. In huge close-up detail are designs and motifs and royal commissions, such as The Beauty of Life, The Strawberry Thief, a bird design, and his vast tapestries, the Eastern influences on his furnishing and textiles and carpets, the fruitful partnerships such as with Wardle & Co. based at Leek, his clients as friends, aesthetic tastes, block printing verses machine manufacture, Barretts of Bethnal Green, the influence of Ruskin's nature in art, and the medieval style of the Trellis pattern, to his panels and screens and Arts & Crafts exhibitions and society. All the favourites are here, including many delightful extras like Edward Burne-Jones' Angeli Ministrantes tapestry and a double page spread of the Attainment: The Vision of the Holy Grail to Sir Galahad, Sir Bors and Sir Percival tapestry in cotton warp, wool and silk weft. A beautiful big almost square shaped hardback with gold foil decoration on the book cover colourful leaf design. Hundreds of full page colour illus and photos. 192pp, 29.5 x 28.5cm.
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