William Morris, Father of the Arts and Crafts Movement
William Morris’s Flowers was written by Rowan Bain, Principal Curator of the William Morris Gallery, London, and published by Thames and Hudson in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019. The book focuses on the original carpet, wallpaper, and fabric patterns Morris created over his lifetime and Bain attributes about 600 finished and unfinished patterns to Morris.
William Morris (1834-1896) was a textile artist heavily associated with both the Arts and Craft movement in Britain and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Following his final year at college, Morris and his friend Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), also a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, swore they would dedicate their lives to becoming artists. Jones did, in fact, become a more “traditional” artist (by that I mean paint on canvas—this does not mean that Burne-Jones was more of a "True" artist than Morris) but Morris found himself drawn more to creating art through interior design. He would eventually establish Morris & Co. (originally named Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.) in 1861, which became a well-known textile company in 19th century Britain. Morris & Co. can still be found selling patterns today, many of which are the same patterns William Morris himself designed.
Morris’s inspirations came primarily from nature, which can very easily be seen in the winding flowers, vines, and leaves that make up his designs. He was critical of the society he lived in and how the rapid industrialization was destroying what he referred to as Britain’s “green and pleasant land.” This anxiety Morris held seemed to propel his interest in capturing the beauty of nature in his prints and to remind those who furnished their homes with his flowers that these images will be all that remains if Britain’s industrialization was not challenged.
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– Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Art History Fieldworker
