William Morris, Stephanie Aguilar

San Francisco/Oakland is a school I attended for two years. I admired the openness to design that I experienced there as well as the equality and respect of an individuals craft. But it was not before long that the word craft was dropped along with half the staff, the price increased and the whole mood changed. After speaking with veteran advisors and professors at the school and doing a little research I found that this school was originally designed after the influence of this man; William Morris and his beliefs in the Arts and Crafts movement.

Born to a business man in 1834 named William Morris and a daughter of a musician, named Emma Shelton; William Morris Jr. was born to be an artist. Growing up in London Morris became a fan of the medieval style in which he was surrounded. A natural at design Morris always had a gift for interior design which is not surprising considering he studied architecture in his early years of higher education. Morris always understood that art surrounds us at all times and even the chair chosen to place next to your desk was an aesthetic decision.

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was originally composed of painters and poets who openly rejected the idea of the academy and felt like painters like Raphael and Michelangelo corrupted the academic practice of art. William Morris became a predominate figure of the unofficial second phase of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The opposition to the royal academy was the basis of brotherhood and it was obvious to those in the group that not only painting should be a respected/accepted form of art worthy of academic training. Naturalism; or the study of nature was extremely important to William Morris especially when in reference to his designs. He was especially disgusted by the industrial mass produced aspect of design. When posed with the challenge of finding furniture for his home, he gave up and hand crafted his own “total” environment. His colleagues; John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti supported him with the this new appreciation of the craft of art, but after an affair the Rossetti had with Morris’ wife the friendship slowed down and Morris when head first into interior design or what he liked to call “decoration”.

I come more into the details of my subject I shall not meddle much with the great art of Architecture, and less still with the great arts commonly called Sculpture and Painting, yet I cannot in my own mind quite sever them from those lesser, so-called Decorative Arts, which I have to speak about: it is only in latter times, and under the most intricate conditions of life, that they have fallen apart from one another; and I hold that, when they are so parted, it is ill for the Arts altogether: the lesser ones become trivial, mechanical, unintelligent, incapable of resisting the changes pressed upon them by fashion or dishonesty; while the greater, however they may be practiced for a while by men of great minds and wonder-working hands, unhelped by the lesser, unhelped by each other, are sure to lose their dignity of popular arts, and become nothing but dull adjuncts to unmeaning pomp, or ingenious toys for a few rich and idle men.” Morris.

Arts and Crafts Movement was probably a direct result and opposition of the industrial revolution. The repetitive nature of design was limiting, not inspiring; non-personal. The machine taking over the job of a man was not to be accepted or respected. Of course many artists were involved in the creation of this movement but William Morris in particular stood out as a founding father. The arts and crafts movement was very special, especially to those that had not had the luxury of art surrounding them, similar to families that had never had a portrait made until photography made it possible. Also the arts and crafts movement has created an appreciation for hand crafted works, from jewelry to textile, from stained glass to furniture. Eventually Morris was able to start his own company. Morris and company specialize in interior design products such as wallpapers, curtains, stained glass and pillow cases. It is obvious that Morris loved to design not only textiles or furniture, but he loved to design his total environment, call it Feng Shui if you will. It was the idea that art should not be secluded for the rich and only viewed by the elite, but should be something by the secluded for the rich and only viewed by the elite, but should be something by the people and for the people.

Another project that enthralled Mr. Morris and his arts and crafts friends was a house called the Red House. While researching this subject of the Red House it became ever so clear how important the total environment actually was to Morris, even in his own personal life this was a priority of his to design his world. Here are a couple of images below as finding ones of the interior are a bit difficult.

Decoration was William Morris’ first born love, he of course did not stop there in his dabbles with the arts. Phillip Webb along with William Morris designed a home called the Red House where William Morris lived for some time. Here many artists came and went, shows were held, and spoken word was herd. Many artists before leaving would add a special touch of their own to the house. The Red House has a beautiful garden landscape that surrounds it. It is often called the house of the arts and crafts movement. Still to date furniture, stained glass windows, paintings and even letters recently found under floor boards have resided there in tact and open to the public.

William Morris also enjoyed the practice of Calligraphy, or Typology as we would probably now call it. In his book plates he used the visual expression of language to convey emotion or intention mixed carefully with his signature filigree work as decoration. He was a well know writer publishing many works such as A Dream of John Ball, The Defiance of Guinevere and Other Poems, and The Earthly Paradise. He was evolved in writing for the News from Nowhere which was a community based newsletter. The list can travel on and on but rather here is an example of a work he did that I thought was beautiful.

It is amazing the amount of work this man William Morris put into making his world so beautifully decorated. I clearly understand now why the Arts and Crafts Movement was so admired, and why after learning about CCA I chose to attend that ridiculously expensive school. I love the term art by the people for the people, it sounds so revolutionary and political! I guess I wonder now how William Morris would have reacted to the modernist move towards kitsch. Would he agree that kitsch is a move toward totalitarianism, a victim of a mindless culture? Or would he enjoy the playfulness and sarcasm that goes hand and hand with the art practice? I sure wish I could ask him. None the less the man was somewhat of a genius and impacted the world of design immensely.
Bibliography
Bibliography

*Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: A View of the West, Volume Two. Pearson Education Inc., New Jersey. 2008.

*Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, Revised Second Edition. Pearson Education Inc., New Jersey. 2005.