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The first modern
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William Morris was a perfectionist and a pioneer of design
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PURE AESTHETE Morris believed that everything in a house should be useful and beautiful
William Morris was born on March 24, 1834, in Walthamstom, Essex. The founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement, he is considered the father of modern design. An ardent champion of using natural resources, Morris is also the first environmentalist, long before the term became fashionable.
The son of a wealthy businessman, Morris had a comfortable, pampered childhood. He devoured tales by Walter Scott and was fascinated with stories of medieval chivalry. His parents even bought him a pony so that he could play at being a knight. He went to Marlborough and Exeter College in Oxford and was originally intending to take holy orders.
However, reading the social criticism of Carlyle, Kingsley and Ruskin convinced him that his calling was art. At Oxford in 1853, he met Ned Burne-Jones who shared a similar passion for all the medieval and Arthurian legends. The two went on a tour of France were they feasted their eyes on the great Gothic cathedrals.
In 1856, Morris left Oxford and moved in with Ned, who was being mentored by the Pre-Raphaelite artiste Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He worked briefly for an architectural firm and became fascinated with old building styles. In 1857 Morris, Burne-Jones, Rossetti and other Pre-Raphaelites painted the Oxford Union frescoes.
Morris met and fell in love with Jane Burden who was modelling for Rossetti. He painted Jane and wrote: "I cannot paint you but I love you." In 1859 when Morris was 25 and Jane 18, the two married.
Creativity by hand
Morris was firmly against the mass produced objects of the industrial revolution. He was more for creating with one's own hands. So he was for bringing back the illuminated manuscript with the establishment of the Kelmscott Press and weaving instead of the machine produced fabric. While courting Jane, he taught her to weave. The couple had two daughters, Jenny and May, whom Morris adored, referring to them as "the littles". May went on to become the leading weaver in England.
In 1860, the Red House was commissioned and Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites decorated it. The House was a tribute to medievalism in the tapestries, stained glass, furniture and murals, which laid the foundation for the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Morris was a perfectionist and learnt to weave in three months and was known to slosh around in vats of dye looking for that exact shade of blue. He also unpicked ancient embroideries to understand how they were done. Morris believed that everything in a house should be useful and beautiful.
In 1861, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co was founded. The firm first designed stained glass for churches but later diversified into household goods — the first lifestyle store! The wallpapers, tapestries, carpets and stencilled murals have been demand since they came into being.
Devastated by Jane's affair with Rossetti, Morris undertook two trips to Iceland where the simplicity of the Icelander's life inspired him to cut through the clutter of Victorian life and design.
He founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, one of the first conservationist projects, in 1877. His was an active propagandist for the socialist cause in the 1880s.
He died on October 3, 1896. His doctor attributed the cause of death as "simply being William Morris and having done more work than most 10 men".
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
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