William Morris’ Life
William Morris’s Life Artist, designer, printer, typographer, bookbinder, craftsman...
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The Multitasking Man
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“The Diligent Study of Nature”
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Medieval Crafts Guilds
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Patterns from Nature
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The Kelmscott Press
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The Arts and Crafts Movement
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The Crafts Guilds
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Influence on Art Education
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Valenzuela Castro Leira Alesy/ Lopez Beltrán Oscar Armando/ Espino Landeros Aries/ Castillo Nuñez Daniel Jr./ Alderete Flores Jonathan Emilio/ Barragán Zamorano Luis Eduardo/ Team No. 1/ Autonomous University of Sinaloa/ Faculty of Architecture.
William Morris’s Wallpaper
The Multitasking Man Artist, designer, printer, typographer, bookbinder, craftsman, poet, writer and champion of socialist ideals, just some things that William Morris was. He believed that a designer should have a working knowledge of any media that he used and as a result he spent a lot of time teaching himself a wide variety of techniques. William Morris was a leading member of the Arts and Crafts Movement. He is best known for his pattern designs, particularly on fabrics and wall papers. His vision in linking art to industry by applying the values of fine art to the production of commercial design was a key stage in the evolution of design as we know it today. Like many designers of his time, Morris was skilled in a wide range of arts and crafts. He also founded the Kelmscott Press which published high quality hand bound books and was very influential in the revival of the private press.
Bird oven textile design, 1878
The Diligent Study of Nature The creative approach that William Morris employed in his designs was revealed in a lecture from 1874: “first, diligent study of Nature and secondly, study of the work of the ages of Art”. Morris felt that the “diligent study of Nature” was important, as nature was the perfect example of God’s design. He saw this as the spiritual antidote to the decline in social, moral and artistic standards during the industrial Revolution. Likewise the “Study of the work of the ages of Art”, a reference to the appreciation of art history, was equally important as Morris encouraged artists to look to the past for their inspiration believing that the art of his own age was
inferior. Morris’ solution was flr a artistic activity itself would be seen return to the values of the Gothic as a force for good in society. art of the middle Ages, where artist and craftsmen had worked together with a common purpose: To glorify God through the practice of their skills. The model for this solution was the medieval Honeysuckle, 1876 crafts guilds which he saw as a type of socialist brotherhood where everybody fulfilled themselves according to their level of ability. Morris felt that this would enhance the quality of life for all, and that
The Medieval Crafts Guilds
The medieval cra-s guilds were groups of ar5sts, architects, and cra-smen who formed an alliance to maintain high standards of workmanship, regulate trade and compe55on, and protect the secrets of their cra-s. The guilds were usually composed of smaller workshops of associated cra-s from the same town who banded together into larger groups for their own protec5on and prosperity. They operated on a Master, Journeyman and Appren5ce system where the master would take on appren5ces to train them in the skills of his cra-. The appren5ces were 'bound' to work for free for that master for a period of around five to nine years In return the master would look a-er their welfare and educa5on in the skills of his cra- un5l they graduated as journeymen. As journeymen, they were not only paid for their work but also free to go and work for other masters. In 5me, if a journeyman demonstrated outstanding skill in his cra-, he could advance in the guild to the posi5on of master and take on his own appren5ces. Patterns from Nature
Morris was one of the great paDern designers. His classic designs are 'Trellis', 1862 s5ll commercially available as wallpapers and tex5les. His paDerns are inspired by his in5mate knowledge of natural forms discovered through drawing and stylized through his detailed knowledge of historical styles. They were usually 5tled with the names of the flowers that they depicted such as 'Chrysanthemum', 'Jasmine', 'Acanthus', and 'Sunflower'. In effect, Morris took the natural forms that he found outside in the woods and meadows and used them to decorate the inside of our homes. His wallpaper designs were echoed in his tex5le, tapestry and carpet designs. Their images are similar, only simplified due to the limita5ons of coarser media. Morris' design for 'Trellis', his first aDempt at a wallpaper design, was based on roses growing over trellises in the garden at the Red House. The paDern shows a medieval influence as it is recalls the ornamental decora5on 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 KelmscoD House in London where he spent his final years.
“Typefaces”, 1897
The Kelmscott Press In 1891, Morris founded the 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 which were based on the style of medieval manuscripts, while the illustrations were created by the Pre-Raphaelite artist, Edward Burne-Jones. The books were printed on handmade paper, copied from 15th century Italian samples, and bound in vellum. Although Morris looked to the past for 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'.
“Typefaces”, 1897
Altogether Kelmscott published 53 titles (18,000 copies in all), including 'The Nature of Gothic', a chapter from 'The Stones of Venice' by the art critic, John Ruskin. Morris, who wrote the preface praising the book, had been greatly inspired by Ruskin whose writings influenced the Arts and Crafts movement by encouraging the revival of Gothic art and architecture. The Kelmscott Press was never a financial success as their beautifully handcrafted books were too expensive to produce at a profit. It was an enterprise that Morris ran simply for pleasure. Kelmscott only ran for seven years and closed in 1898, two years after the death of Morris.
The Arts and Crafts Movement
The Arts and Crafts Movement (1850-1900) was a reaction against the Industrial Revolution. The development of the steam engine by James Watt in 1765 led to the mechanization of industry, agriculture and transportation and changed the life of the working man in Britain. The cities and towns grew to accommodate the expanding industries and the influx of workers from the countryside looking for employment. However, living standards gradually deteriorated and industrialization left people with a sense that their life had changed for the worst. Many had sacrificed a rural lifestyle 'in England's green and pleasant land' for the sake of a job in the 'dark Satanic mills' of the Industrial Revolution. As a result, they lost that feeling of security and belonging which comes from living in smaller communities. The members of the Arts and Crafts Movement included artists, architects, designers, craftsmen and writers. They feared that industrialization was destroying the environment in which traditional skills and crafts could prosper, as machine production had taken the pride, skill and design out of the quality of goods being manufactured. They believed that hand crafted objects were superior to those made by machine and that the rural craftsman had a superior lifestyle to those who slaved in the urban mills and factories. The Crafts Guilds The Arts and Crafts Movement formed into various crafts guilds to try to recreate the dignified working environment that existed in the medieval crafts guilds. They gave themselves names such as the Century Guild, the Guild of Saint George, the Art Workers Guild and the Guild of Handicraft. The Century Guild was the first of the craft guilds to form. It was founded in 1882, under the influence of William Morris, by the architect and designer A.H. Mackmurdo. In 1884 the guild published a quarterly journal called 'Hobby Horse' to promote their aims and ideals
Some representations of Walter Crane , on the left “The baby’s own aesop (1887) and on the right “Neptune’s Horses” (1893)
Influence on Art Education Among other noteworthy guilds was the prestigious Art Workers Guild, whose membership included lecturers and principles from the leading art schools. Walter Crane, the principal of the Royal College of Art in 1897-8 and a renowned illustrator of children's books, was a founding member. The architect and theorist, W. R. Lethaby, the first Professor of Design at the RCA, became the original director and co-founder of the London Central School of Arts and Crafts, the first college to introduce craft workshops to promote Arts and Crafts principles within mainstream art education.
producing affordable quality hand-crafted design for the masses as the production costs of their designs were so high that they could only be purchased by the wealthy. Also, any movement which continually looks to the past for its inspiration must have a limited life span. However, the greatest legacy of the Arts and Crafts movement was their
The Decline of Arts and Crafts Despite its high ideals, the Arts and Crafts Movement was essentially flawed. Their opposition to modern methods of production and the tendency to look back to the medieval world, rather than forward to a progressive era of complete mechanization, was what eventually sounded the death knell of the movement. They could only fail in their socialist ideal of
Teapot by CHRISTOPHER DRESSER, 1879 understanding of the relationship between design and our quality of life.
This was the start of a design evolution that would eventually culminate in the foundation of the Bauhaus School of Art and Design which became the prototype for art education in the 20th century.