[William Morris]
William Morris, a 19th-century British textile designer. The Arts and Crafts spirit he advocated—unifying art and daily life—has endured across generations.
Known as the “Father of Modern Design,” Morris was also a poet, writer, thinker, and activist. Born in 1834 in Walthamstow, a suburb of London, he grew up in a middle-class family; his father was a businessman in finance. After his father's death, the family moved back to Walthamstow from Woodford Hall in 1848, settling at “Water House” (now the William Morris Gallery).
In 1853, Morris entered Exeter College, Oxford. There he met Edward Burne-Jones, who became his lifelong friend and collaborator. In 1855, the two traveled to France to study medieval art, where Morris resolved to become an architect and Burne-Jones a painter. The following year, Morris joined the architectural practice of George Edmund Street, where he met Philip Webb, who became a close friend. However, Morris soon decided to pursue painting rather than architecture and became a pupil of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Pre-Raphaelite painter whom Burne-Jones studied under.
In the summer of 1857, while working on murals for the Oxford Union commissioned by Rossetti, Morris met Jane Burden, fell in love, and became engaged. Construction began on the Red House, a red-brick home designed by Webb as their new home. With his efforts to become a painter proving fruitless, Morris resolved to dedicate himself to decorative arts. Red House was conceived by Morris, who designed the interiors and furniture. Webb produced the architectural drawings, Burne-Jones painted the murals, and Rossetti also contributed. The house was completed through the collaborative efforts of this group of friends.
This project led to the establishment in 1861 of the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. by Morris and six companions. The company pursued five genres—wall decoration, ornamental sculpture, stained glass, metalwork, and furniture—as a comprehensive life art. From 1868 to 1870, Morris gained recognition as a poet through his four-part narrative poem “The Earthly Paradise.” In 1875, the company was renamed “Morris & Co.,” with Morris taking sole management.
Morris & Co. emphasized the revival of natural dyes and traditional techniques, designing to elevate the status of craftsmen and elevate handcrafted work to an art form. Criticizing the spread of mass-produced, inferior goods brought about by the Industrial Revolution, Morris advocated for the revival of beautiful handicrafts created by artisans and the unification of life and art. This philosophy spread throughout Britain from the early 1880s as the Arts and Crafts movement, laying the foundation for early 20th-century modern design and the Bauhaus movement.
In his later years, Morris founded the Kelmscott Press, a private book printing workshop, publishing a total of 53 titles across 66 volumes. Guided by the belief that “all books should be beautiful things,” he demonstrated this vision by printing them with beautiful typefaces on beautiful paper and binding them with beautiful covers. In 1896, Morris died at Kelmscott House. His gravestone was designed by Webb.
William Morris never ceased pursuing the “beauty” within him, even as it shifted and transformed. He did not keep it to himself but shared it with others, ultimately changing the times. Just as Morris's beautiful textiles remain beloved after so many years, we wish to remember and pass on the legacy of his great achievements.
Reference
https://www.william-morris.jp/
