William Moriss
1834-1896

William Morris is a cult designer in the English art world. He was a multi-faceted man of amazing energy, a revolutionary designer, a poet, weaver, embroiderer, businessman, calligrapher, manufacturer of furniture, stained glass, tapestries, wallpaper , chintzes and an active socialist. Born at Walthamstow in a wealthy family he was educated in the most exclusive English Schools ( Malborough, Exeter College Oxford). At Oxford where he studied theology, he founded a secret society " The Brotherhood" with Edward Burne Johnes and Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Their idea was to rebell against the Royal Academy , the Mannerist and conservative art. They thought that Raphael style ( Hence the name Pre-Raphaelites) had been a corrupting influence on the teaching of art in England. At the same time he developped love for the Middle Ages. In 1855 he visited the gothic cathedrals of the north of France with Burnes-Jones. Romantic Medievalism informs Morris's arts and crafts work and the books from his Kelmscott Press.