William Morris Gallery

"Don't copy any style but make your own"
  William Morris

William Morris as a young man
Self portrait
en.wikipedia.org

Morris the man

My visit to this Gallery was all I'd hoped it would be.  I found myself just as interested in the man as his work.  He seems to have been a gifted man in many ways, a workaholic who had high expectations of those who worked alongside him.

William was born into a very privileged lifestyle and was confidently expected to go into the Church.

There was a rebellious streak in William and to the dismay of his mother (his father had died when he was 13) he turned his attention to art in many forms.

All the minor arts were in a state of complete degradation, and with the conceited courage of a young man I set myself to reforming all that

Morris was a prodigious reader from an early age and wrote poetry and drew.  He knew the artists and writers of the day like Ruskin and Rossetti and was himself interested in medieval design.

In 1859 Morris married Jane Burden a local stableman's daughter.  He commissioned an architect friend, Philip Webb to

....build me a house very medieval in spirit. I lived in it four five years and set myself to decorating it.

He found that there were no furnishings available to suit his needs so he set about designing his own, wallpaper, textiles, furniture; he turned his hand to every aspect of the interior decoration.  To the Victorian eye the style was eccentric.

Red House
www.victorianweb.org 

This experience set the course for the rest of Morris life.  He taught himself the craft skills he needed and along with various friends who put up money in 1861 Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company was founded.  

The business prospered and eventually became Morris and Co.  At the outset Morris wanted to adopt an artisan approach and hand make everything. Eventually however he felt this made his designs available to only the rich so he created some off the peg merchandise that made his work affordable for the middle classes.

Morris was an active social campaigner on behalf of the working man - what we might call a champagne socialist I suppose.  He felt morally compromised by his wealth and attended demonstrations and held extreme views.  He was even arrested. Although he found public speaking difficult he addressed many meetings up and down the country.

Morris mastered all sorts of textile work.  After learning to embroider he taught his wife and her sister to complete designs to his specifications.  He was one of the first designers to be associated with the Royal School of Art Needlework whose aim was to elevate secular embroidery to the position it had once held.  His daughter May became influential in the embroidery side of the business.


Morris continued to idealise traditional ways of production and at a time when roller printing was becoming the norm he chose to use hand block printing for his wallpaper and  fabric printing. He found chemical dyes too coarse and set up a dye works to ensure a supply of natural dyes.  This involved reviving the production of many of the old dyes. Morris also produced tapestries at his works at Merton Abbey. He said

If a chap can't compose an epic poem while he's weaving a tapestry, he had better shut up, he'll never do any good at all.

OCA students beware!

Morris was only 62 when he died in 1896. His doctor said

the cause was simply being William Morris and having done more work than most ten men.

William Morris
ilovetypography.com

A question I often ask myself when I've been exposed to so intimate a view of an eminent person is

            "Would I have liked him?" 

I'm not really sure about the answer here.  I think he would have been a hard taskmaster and quite intolerant of not just the slow learner but the steady worker as well. Parry (1983) says

His interest in his fellow man transcended all class and social barriers.  He would be interested (in a person) if she had anything interesting to tell him and not for a moment longer.

Not a man to suffer fools gladly but oh so inspirational and idealistic.

The Gallery

William Morris Gallery
Walthamstow E17 4PP

The Gallery itself is the house the family moved to when his father died.  It was a strange feeling to know that Morris knew the rooms I was in.

I found the Gallery very accessible for a whole variety of people.  There were many interactive displays and plenty for children to enjoy.  The serious student and the more casual visitor alike were well catered for with a wealth of original and well labelled material.

David Bailey

The Gallery was also showing David Bailey's East End Faces.  These photographs were a powerful portrayal of the people of London's East End in the 1960's.  I knew Bailey as a fashion photographer but his heart was clearly with the people in this exhibition.




In this review I've used notes I took in the Gallery; all the quotes from Morris are from there too.

Parry L. 1983. William Morris Textiles. New Jersey.
www.wmgallery.org.uk