William Morris
Art and Crafts Movement
William Morris was a leading member of
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Morris is mostly known as a designer of
patterns for wallpaper and textiles.
Morris was also an artist, designer,
printer, typographer, bookbinder,
craftsman, poet, writer and champion of
socialist ideals.
Morris believed that the art and design of
his own time was inferior and unworthy.
He felt that this was due to the poor
quality of life during the Industrial
Revolution.
Morris believed that nature was the
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
perfect example of God's design.
Morris believed that all design
should be based on nature which he
saw as the spiritual remedy to the
inferior standards of art and design
during the Industrial Revolution.
Morris founded the Kelmscott Press
to create beautiful handmade books
which would elevate the craft of
printing to an art form.
Morris encouraged artists and designers to look back
to medieval art for their inspiration as this was a time
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
when artists and craftsmen worked together with equal
status.
Morris said, "Have nothing in your house that you do
not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
The Arts and Crafts Movement
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
was a reaction against the poor
quality of design during the
Industrial Revolution.
The members of the Arts and
Crafts Movement believed that
the growth of industry had
destroyed traditional skills and
had removed the pride that a
craftsman could find in his
work.
The members of the Arts and Crafts
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
Movement formed themselves into
crafts guilds, based on the medieval
examples, in order to encourage high
standards of design and provide a
supportive working environment.
The crafts guilds gave themselves
names such as the Century Guild, the
Guild of Saint George, the Art Workers
Guild and the Guild of Handicraft.
The Arts and Crafts Movement raised
the status of design in art education
and established it as an essential
element in the manufacturing process.
Morris' design for 'Trellis', his first attempt at
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
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.
The birds and insects which were later added
to the final design were drawn by Philip
Webb, the architect of the Red House.
'Trellis' was one of Morris' favourite designs
and he chose it to decorate his bedroom at
Kelmscott House in London where he
spent his final years
In 1891, Morris founded the
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
Kelmscott Press, named after the
village near Oxford where he had
lived since 1871. The Kelmscott
Press produced high quality
hand-printed books to be seen
and cherished as objects d'art.
Morris designed and cut the
typefaces, ornamental borders
and title pages.
Although Morris looked to the past for
WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896)
inspiration, his aims anticipate
modernist ideas on typography and
layout: 'I began printing books with the
hope of producing some which would have
a definite claim to beauty, while at the
same time they should be easy to read and
should not dazzle the eye......I found I had
to consider chiefly the following things:
the paper, the form of the type, the
relative spacing of the letters, the words,
and the lines; and lastly the position of
the printed matter on the page'.
