William Morris

by Arthur Clutton-Brock

Considered one of the most prominent actors of the Victorian era, William Morris (1843-1896) was a poet, artist, designer, and editor, and did not hesitate to express his socialist political views, which at the time were frowned upon by the estalishment.His encounters with Rossetti and Burne-Jones, as well as his religious studies, made him a man of manifold talents. From this mixture of genres, William Morris would go on to construct a remarkable career, applying his ideas through various enterprises he established under the name of the William Morris Companies, revolutionizing both interior decorating and architecture. He quickly understood the advantage of industrial production techniques, which he used to design his creations. Together with John Ruskin, he also became a co-founder of the Arts and Crafts movement. Despite his admiration for Ruskin, he did not hesitate to publish his own poems in 1858 in his publishing house, Kelmscott Press.His fascination with the pre-Raphaelite painters lead him to push aside the canons of English art, and, under the influence of Ruskin, to launch the rediscovery of the medieval style of decoration.While drawing tapestries, carpets, glasswork, and other fine elements of interior decor, he became a fervent defender of socialism and participated actively in the Socialist Democratic Federation, which later became known as the Socialist League.William Morris transformed his dreams and ideals into the deeds that still inspire our admiration today.Through a series of illustrations, this work examines the scope of Morriss talent, which continues to have a major influence on our daily lives today.

Genres: Art, Biography

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

1868-1924

Reviews

[rairai :;(∩´﹏`∩);: · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it in church during work because we have stained glass windows and a tapestry from William Morris's company. He was an interesting and likeable man and there were some really good lines in there. Also it was in french. Some parts were a bit boring and i also was sad I couldn't read his poetry in the original language because it seemed beautiful, and so the analysis pages werent my favourite part. Anyway good book i'll go read his poems now

[Mo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is written in easily readable style which lacks a bit of depth. More for the layperson than art historians.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for 50p from the Bishopsgate book sale. I have a much longer biography of William Morris that I still haven't read as it is very large. But this was much shorter and so I thought it'd be a better place to start. While it went chronologically through his life it was more about his aims and ideals than anything else. The author definitely didn't appreciate William Morris for the same reasons I do which made some of the parts less interesting to me but I was really taken by this passage,

The twice born on the other hand are not at ease and their youth is often unpleasing because they are so full of a sense of discord in themselves. They do not know what they want to be or what they would make of life, and they are restless, imitative and affected. But life is a process of discovery for them and they refuse no experience. They are always in process of making. Sometimes this process is gradual, sometimes it is all concentrated in that sudden rebirth which we call conversion. In any case, if they are not wrecked by early inexperience, they improve with years; their very faults change into virtues and they profit by their worst errors. And this happy change in them makes us feel that life is not merely something that happens and is done with, giving good to some and evil to others, but that it is an experience, with a purpose beyond itself, by which the least gifted may profit through their defects.

[^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biographies written close to the period of their subject are, to me, always more interesting than those written a generation or more later; because societies change over time. Mr Arthur Clutton-Brock wrote for the Times Literary Supplement (TLS) on many of the same subjects that William Morris devoted his life to. Unlike many journalists today, he presents an analysis of his material; for example a comparison of Morris' poems “The Lovers of Gudrun” and “Sigurd” to demonstrate why he believes the latter to be of a higher art than the former.

Reading through this book, Clutton-Brock’s sympathetic understanding shines through; he is clearly writing about subjects in which he has a strong personal interest in, and proven technical knowledge of. Unsurprisingly then, this book is a delightful read.