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117-683: In 1920 an exhibition by northern craftsmen living in London was held at Houldsworth Hall. Called The Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts , its success led to the formation of the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in January 1921. The Guild was inspired by the work of William Morris . Its symbol, a red rose , reflected the Guild's origins in the north west of England. The Guild was “a central authoritative body, maintaining exacting standards for membership and providing both

234-663: A 13-episode poem, The Pilgrims of Hope , which was set in the period of the Paris Commune. From November 1886 to January 1887, Morris's novel A Dream of John Ball was serialised in Commonweal . Set in Kent during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, it contained strong socialist themes, although it proved popular among those of different ideological viewpoints, resulting in its publication in book form by Reeves and Turner in 1888. Shortly after,

351-500: A book of Morris's poems, The Defence of Guenevere , which was largely self-funded by the author. It did not sell well and garnered few reviews, most of which were unsympathetic. Disconcerted, Morris would not publish again for a further eight years. In October 1857 Morris met Jane Burden , a woman from a poor working-class background, at a theatre performance. Rossetti initially asked her to model for him. Controversially both Rossetti and Morris were smitten with her; Morris, however, began

468-574: A close friend. Morris soon relocated to Street's London office, in August 1856 moving into a flat in Bloomsbury in Central London with Burne-Jones, an area perhaps chosen for its avant-garde associations. Morris was fascinated by London but dismayed at its pollution and rapid expansion into neighbouring countryside, describing it as "the spreading sore". William Morris became increasingly fascinated with

585-410: A collection of Morris's essays, Signs of Change , was published. Our business [...] is the making of Socialists, i.e. convincing people that Socialism is good for them and is possible. When we have enough people of that way of thinking, they will find out what action is necessary for putting their principles in practice. Therefore, I say, make Socialists. We Socialists can do nothing else that

702-545: A correspondence and occasional visits, although she found him extremely paranoid and was upset by his addiction to chloral . She last saw him in 1881, and he died in April the following year. Morris described his mixed feelings toward his deceased friend by stating that he had "some of the very greatest qualities of genius, most of them indeed; what a great man he would have been but for the arrogant misanthropy which marred his work, and killed him before his time". In August 1883, Janey

819-590: A financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London . His mother was Emma Morris (née Shelton), who descended from a wealthy bourgeois family from Worcester . Morris was the third of his parents' surviving children; their first child, Charles, had been born in 1827 but died four days later. Charles had been followed by the birth of two girls, Emma in 1829 and Henrietta in 1833, before William's birth. These children were followed by

936-583: A greater appreciation of the country than he had on his previous trip. In April 1879 Morris moved the family home again, this time renting an 18th-century mansion on Hammersmith 's Upper Mall in West London that was owned by the novelist George MacDonald . Morris named it Kelmscott House and re-decorated it according to his own taste. In the House's grounds he set up a workshop, focusing on the production of hand-knotted carpets. Excited that both of his homes were along

1053-470: A house outside London where his children could spend time away from the city's pollution. He settled on Kelmscott Manor in the village of Kelmscott , Oxfordshire , obtaining a joint tenancy on the building with Rossetti in June. Morris adored the building, which was constructed circa 1570, and would spend much time in the local countryside. In contrast, Rossetti was unhappy at Kelmscott, and eventually suffered

1170-671: A lease on the seven-acre former silk weaving factory, the Merton Abbey Works , next to the River Wandle on the High Street at Merton , Southwest London (not to be confused with the adjacent Merton Abbey Mills , home of the Liberty Print Works.) After he moved his workshops to the site, the premises were used for weaving, dyeing, and creating stained glass; within three years, 100 craftsmen were employed there. Working conditions at

1287-585: A mental breakdown. Morris divided his time between London and Kelmscott, however when Rossetti was there he would not spend more than three days at a time at the latter. He became fed up with his family home in Queen Square, deciding to obtain a new house in London. Although retaining a personal bedroom and study at Queen Square, he relocated his family to Horrington House in Turnham Green Road, West London, in January 1873. This allowed him to be far closer to

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1404-503: A number of household servants. Meanwhile, changes were afoot at the Firm as Faulkner left, and to replace him they employed a business manager, Warrington Taylor, who would remain with them till 1866. Taylor pulled the Firm's finances into order and spent much time controlling Morris and ensuring that he worked to schedule. During these years the Firm carried out a number of high-profile designs; from September 1866 to January 1867, they redecorated

1521-558: A portrait by establishment painter George Frederic Watts . Morris was keenly interested in Icelandic literature, having befriended the Icelandic theologian Eiríkur Magnússon . Together they produced prose translations of the Eddas and Sagas for publication in English. Morris also developed a keen interest in creating handwritten illuminated manuscripts, producing 18 such books between 1870 and 1875,

1638-540: A rally against military intervention. Morris eventually became disillusioned with the EQA, describing it as being "full of wretched little personalities". He nevertheless joined a regrouping of predominantly working-class EQA activists, the National Liberal League , becoming their treasurer in summer 1879; the group remained small and politically ineffective, with Morris resigning as treasurer in late 1881, shortly before

1755-495: A regular at the socialist International Club in Shoreditch , East London , however he avoided the recently created Fabian Society , deeming it too middle-class. Although a Marxist, he befriended prominent anarchist activists Stepniak and Peter Kropotkin , and came to be influenced by their anarchist views, to the extent that biographer Fiona MacCarthy described his approach as being "Marxism with visionary libertarianism". As

1872-558: A relationship with her and they were engaged in spring 1858; Burden would later admit that she had never loved Morris. They were married in a low-key ceremony held at St Michael at the North Gate church in Oxford on 26 April 1859, before honeymooning in Bruges , Belgium, and settling temporarily at 41 Great Ormond Street, London. Morris desired a new home for himself and his daughters resulting in

1989-520: A reputation as an eccentric nicknamed "Crab". He despised his time there, being bullied, bored, and homesick. He did use the opportunity to visit many of the prehistoric sites of Wiltshire, such as Avebury and Silbury Hill , which fascinated him. The school was Anglican in faith and in March 1849 Morris was confirmed by the Bishop of Salisbury in the college chapel, developing an enthusiastic attraction towards

2106-429: A result, sales increased and its popularity grew. By 1880, Morris & Co. had become a household name, having become very popular with Britain's upper and middle classes. The Firm was obtaining increasing numbers of commissions from aristocrats, wealthy industrialists, and provincial entrepreneurs, with Morris furnishing parts of St James's Palace and the chapel at Eaton Hall . As a result of his growing sympathy for

2223-534: A sense of movement; none of his paintings are dated later than 1862. Instead he focused his energies on designing wallpaper patterns, the first being "Trellis", designed in 1862. His designs were produced from 1864 by Jeffrey and Co. of Islington , who created them for the Firm under Morris's supervision. Morris retained an active interest in various groups, joining the Hogarth Club , the Mediaeval Society, and

2340-620: A series of English-language translations of Icelandic Sagas. He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels, namely The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball (1888), the Utopian News from Nowhere (1890), and the fantasy romance The Well at the World's End (1896). In 1877, he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to campaign against

2457-532: A shared attitude to life, both being keenly interested in Anglo-Catholicism and Arthurianism . Through Burne-Jones, Morris joined a group of undergraduates from Birmingham who were studying at Pembroke College : William Fulford (1831–1882), Richard Watson Dixon , Charles Faulkner , and Cormell Price . They were known among themselves as the "Brotherhood" and to historians as the Birmingham Set . Morris

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2574-471: A strong socialist movement; calling on activists to boycott elections, he hoped that socialists would take part in a proletariat revolution and help to establish a socialist society . Bax taught Morris more about Marxism , and introduced him to Marx's collaborator, Friedrich Engels ; Engels thought Morris honest but lacking in practical skills to aid the proletarian revolution. Morris remained in contact with other sectors of London's leftist community, being

2691-600: A traumatic miscarriage and an addiction to laudanum ; she would die of an overdose in February 1862. In April 1861, Morris founded a decorative arts company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. , with six other partners: Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, Ford Madox Brown, Charles Faulkner, and Peter Paul Marshall . Operating from premises at No. 6 Red Lion Square , they referred to themselves as "the Firm" and were intent on adopting Ruskin's ideas of reforming British attitudes to production. They hoped to reinstate decoration as one of

2808-420: A vital sales outlet and a regular annual meeting place.” They made a point of excluding any exhibits which appeared either ‘commercial’ or machine-made. The Guild played a leading role in the debate about the future of craftspeople after WWII. They campaigned for state protection and the guild's secretary, Harry Norris, successfully argued for the exemption of “key craftworkers from war service in order to ensure

2925-522: Is Enough , a poetic drama based on a story in the Medieval Welsh text, the Mabinogion . Illustrated with Burne-Jones woodcuts, it was not a popular success. By 1871, he had begun work on a novel set in the present, The Novel on Blue Paper , which was about a love triangle; it would remain unfinished and Morris later asserted that it was not well written. By early summer 1871, Morris began to search for

3042-757: Is a trifling evil compared with the inequality of classes." Morris and Burne-Jones then spent time with one of the Firm's patrons, the wealthy George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Rosalind, at their Medieval home in Naworth Castle , Cumberland . In July 1874, the Morris family then took Burne-Jones's two children with them on their holiday to Bruges , Belgium. However, by this point Morris's friendship with Rossetti had seriously eroded, and in July 1874 their acrimonious falling out led Rossetti to leave Kelmscott, with Morris's publisher F.S. Ellis taking his place. With

3159-471: Is devoted to his legacy, while multiple biographies and studies of his work have been published. Many of the buildings associated with his life are open to visitors, much of his work can be found in art galleries and museums, and his designs are still in production. Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow , Essex , on 24 March 1834. Raised into a wealthy middle-class family, he was named after his father,

3276-524: Is unknown if their affair was ever sexual, although by this point other members of the group were noticing Rossetti and Janey's closeness. Imagining the creation of an artistic community at Upton, Morris helped develop plans for a second house to be constructed adjacent to Red House in which Burne-Jones could live with his family; the plans were abandoned when Burne-Jones's son Christopher died from scarlet fever . By 1864, Morris had become increasingly tired of life at Red House, being particularly unhappy with

3393-426: Is useful." — William Morris From January to October 1890, Morris serialised his novel News from Nowhere in Commonweal , resulting in improved circulation for the paper. In March 1891 it was published in book form, before being translated into Dutch, French, Swedish, German and Italian by 1900 and becoming a classic among Europe's socialist community. Combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction ,

3510-544: The Anglo-Catholic movement and its Romanticist aesthetic. At Christmas 1851, Morris was removed from the school and returned to Water House, where he was privately tutored by the Reverend Frederick B. Guy, Assistant Master at the nearby Forest School . In June 1852 Morris entered Exeter College at Oxford University , although, since the college was full, he went into residence only in January 1853. He disliked

3627-650: The Birmingham Set . After university, he married Jane Burden , and developed close friendships with Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb . Webb and Morris designed Red House in Kent where Morris lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to Bloomsbury , central London. In 1861, Morris founded the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others, which became highly fashionable and much in demand. The firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout

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3744-469: The Golden Fleece . In contrast to Morris's former publication, The Life and Death of Jason was well received, resulting in the publishers paying Morris a fee for the second edition. From 1865 to 1870, Morris worked on another epic poem, The Earthly Paradise . Designed as a homage to Chaucer, it consisted of 24 stories, adopted from an array of different cultures, and each by a different narrator; set in

3861-570: The Houses of Parliament intrinsically corrupt and capitalist. Personal issues between Morris and Hyndman were exacerbated by their attitude to British foreign policy; Morris was staunchly anti-imperialist while Hyndman expressed patriotic sentiment encouraging some foreign intervention. The division between the two groups developed into open conflict, with the majority of members sharing Morris's position. In December 1884 Morris and his supporters – most notably Ernest Belfort Bax and Edward Aveling – left

3978-679: The Red Rose Guild of Arts and Crafts in 1920, it changed its name to the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers in 1921. In 1940s the name was changed to the Red Rose Guild of Craftsmen and finally in the 1960s to the Red Rose Guild of Designer Craftsmen . An advertisement in the Manchester Evening News for the Guild's first exhibition in October 1921 listed exhibits including “Embroideries, Lace, Weaving, Jewellery, Leather and Basket Work, Sculpture, Pottery, Stained Glass &c”. Exhibitions were held at Manchester's Houldsworth Hall every autumn until

4095-756: The School of Digital Arts (SODA). It also hosts the Manchester School of Art Research Centre. The school became responsible for the non-degree courses of the Manchester Municipal College of Technology by 1996, when the rest of that institution became the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology . This transfer gave a historical link to the Manchester Mechanics' Institute established in 1824. The Manchester Municipal School of Art

4212-608: The Social Democratic Federation (SDF), but he broke with that organisation in 1890. In 1891, he founded the Kelmscott Press to publish limited-edition, illuminated -style print books, a cause to which he devoted his final years. Morris is recognised as one of the most significant cultural figures of Victorian Britain . He was best known in his lifetime as a poet, although he posthumously became better known for his designs. The William Morris Society founded in 1955

4329-465: The Victorian period , with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. In 1875, he assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co. Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor , Oxfordshire , from 1871 while also retaining a main home in London. He was greatly influenced by visits to Iceland with Eiríkur Magnússon , and he produced

4446-576: The 1960s Chatham Tower (named after the adjacent street) was refurbished and the Benzie Building was built, to provide additional studio and exhibition space for the art school. The design, by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios , was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in the same year. It was renamed the Lowry Building in 2024. Calico printers Edmund Potter and James Thomson were involved in

4563-465: The 3 to 4 hours spent commuting to his London workplace on a daily basis. He sold Red House, and in autumn 1865 moved with his family to No. 26 Queen Square in Bloomsbury, the same building to which the Firm had moved its base of operations earlier in the summer. At Queen Square, the Morris family lived in a flat directly above the Firm's shop. They were joined by Janey's sister Elizabeth Burden and

4680-448: The Abbey were better than at most Victorian factories. However, despite Morris's ideals, there was little opportunity for the workers to display their own individual creativity. Morris had initiated a system of profit sharing among the Firm's upper clerks, however this did not include the majority of workers, who were instead employed on a piecework basis. Morris was aware that, in retaining

4797-785: The Armoury and Tapestry Room in St James's Palace , in the latter year also designing the Green Dining Room at the South Kensington Museum (it is now the Morris Room at the Victoria and Albert Museum). The Firm's work received increasing interest from people in the United States, resulting in Morris's acquaintance with Henry James and Charles Eliot Norton . However, despite its success,

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4914-567: The British socialist movement grew it faced increased opposition from the establishment, with police frequently arresting and intimidating activists. To combat this, the League joined a Defence Club with other socialist groups, including the SDF, for which Morris was appointed treasurer. Morris was passionate in denouncing the "bullying and hectoring" that he felt socialists faced from the police, and on one occasion

5031-625: The Corps of Artist Volunteers, the latter in contrast to his later pacifism. Meanwhile, Morris's family continued to grow. In January 1861, Morris and Janey's first daughter was born: named Jane Alice Morris , she was commonly known as "Jenny". Jenny was followed in March 1862 by the birth of their second daughter, Mary "May" Morris . Morris was a caring father to his daughters, and years later they both recounted having idyllic childhoods. However, there were problems in Morris's marriage as Janey became increasingly close to Rossetti, who often painted her. It

5148-603: The Devon Great Consols, selling his remaining shares in the company. Now in complete control of the Firm, Morris took an increased interest in the process of textile dyeing and entered into a co-operative agreement with Thomas Wardle , a silk dyer who operated the Hencroft Works in Leek, Staffordshire . As a result, Morris would spend time with Wardle at his home on various occasions between summer 1875 and spring 1878. Deeming

5265-658: The Early Modern Hunting Lodge at Chingford . He also took rides through the Essex countryside on his pony, and visited the various churches and cathedrals throughout the country, marveling at their architecture. His father took him on visits outside of the county, for instance to Canterbury Cathedral , the Chiswick Horticultural Gardens, and to the Isle of Wight , where he adored Blackgang Chine . Aged 9, he

5382-514: The Firm included furniture, architectural carving, metalwork, stained glass windows, and murals. Their stained glass windows proved a particular success in the firm's early years as they were in high demand for the surge in the Neo-Gothic construction and refurbishment of churches, many of which were commissioned by the architect George Frederick Bodley . Despite Morris's anti-elitist ethos, the Firm soon became increasingly popular and fashionable with

5499-445: The Firm was not turning over a large net profit, and this, coupled with the decreasing value of Morris's stocks, meant that he had to decrease his spending. Janey's relationship with Rossetti had continued, and by the late 1860s gossip regarding their affair had spread about London, where they were regularly seen spending time together. Morris biographer Fiona MacCarthy argued that it was likely that Morris had learned of and accepted

5616-590: The House was nevertheless unique, with Morris describing it as "very mediaeval in spirit". Situated within an orchard, the house and garden were intricately linked in their design. It took a year to construct, and cost Morris £4000 at a time when his fortune was greatly reduced by a dramatic fall in the price of his shares. Burne-Jones described it as "the beautifullest place on Earth." After construction, Morris invited friends to visit, most notably Burne-Jones and his wife Georgiana , as well as Rossetti and his wife Lizzie Siddal . They aided him in painting murals on

5733-698: The President of the Althing , Jón Sigurðsson , with Morris being sympathetic to the Icelandic independence movement . From there, they proceeded by Icelandic horse along the south coast to Bergþórshvoll , Þórsmörk , Geysir , Þingvellir , and then back to Reykjavík, where they departed back to Britain in September. In April 1873, Morris and Burne-Jones holidayed in Italy, visiting Florence and Siena . Although generally disliking

5850-610: The SDF; the first major schism of the British socialist movement. In December 1884, Morris founded the Socialist League (SL) with other SDF defectors. He composed the SL's manifesto with Bax, describing their position as that of "Revolutionary International Socialism", advocating proletarian internationalism and world revolution while rejecting the concept of socialism in one country . In this, he committed himself to "making Socialists" by educating, organising, and agitating to establish

5967-513: The abolition of national debt, nationalisation of land, banks, and railways, and the organisation of agriculture and industry under state control and co-operative principles. Some of his DF comrades found it difficult to reconcile his socialist values with his position as proprietor of the Firm, although he was widely admired as a man of integrity. The DF began publishing a weekly newspaper, Justice , which soon faced financial losses that Morris covered. Morris also regularly contributed articles to

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6084-521: The art of a group of painters who had emerged in London in 1848 calling themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood . The Pre-Raphaelite style was heavily Medievalist and Romanticist, emphasising abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions; it greatly impressed Morris and the Set. Influenced both by Ruskin and by John Keats , Morris began to spend more time writing poetry, in a style that

6201-588: The artists Arthur Hughes , Thomas Woolner , and Ford Madox Brown . Tired of architecture, Morris abandoned his apprenticeship, with Rossetti persuading him to take up painting instead, which he chose to do in the Pre-Raphaelite style. Morris aided Rossetti and Burne-Jones in painting the Arthurian murals at the Oxford Union , although his contributions were widely deemed inferior and unskilled compared to those of

6318-429: The birth of siblings Stanley in 1837, Rendall in 1839, Arthur in 1840, Isabella in 1842, Edgar in 1844, and Alice in 1846. The Morris family were followers of the evangelical Protestant form of Christianity, and William was baptised four months after his birth at St Mary's Church, Walthamstow . As a child, Morris was kept largely housebound at Elm House by his mother; there, he spent much time reading, favouring

6435-534: The board for forty years. She was the first honorary secretary and occasionally took the chair from 1926 onwards. In the early years of the Guild, Pilkington was supported by Kathleen Smartt, Dorothy Hutton , and Margaret Fullerton Davies. Harry Norris, Pilkington's “protégé” was secretary and Mr Cadness was chair. Later committee members included Charles F Sixsmith (chairman) in 1937, Reginald Marlow (chairman) in 1967, Marie Nordlinger (committee member) and Alex McErlain (treasurer) in 1980s. The Red Rose Guild included

6552-537: The book tells the tale of a contemporary socialist, William Guest, who falls asleep and awakens in the early 21st century, discovering a future society based on common ownership and democratic control of the means of production . In this society there is no private property , no big cities, no authority, no monetary system, no divorce, no courts, no prisons, and no class systems; it was a depiction of Morris's ideal socialist society. Manchester School of Art Manchester School of Art in Manchester , England,

6669-402: The bourgeoisie, particularly following their exhibit at the 1862 International Exhibition in South Kensington , where they received press attention and medals of commendation. However, they faced much opposition from established design companies, particularly those belonging to the Neo-Classical school. Morris was slowly abandoning lithography and painting, recognising that his work lacked

6786-422: The brain". Instead he preferred the writings of William Cobbett and Sergius Stepniak , although he also read the critique of socialism produced by John Stuart Mill . In May 1883, Morris was appointed to the DF's executive committee, and was soon elected to the position of treasurer. Devoting himself to the socialist cause, he regularly lectured at meetings across Britain, hoping to gain more converts, although

6903-435: The cause, of Morris's circle of artistic comrades, only Webb and Faulkner fully embraced socialism, while Swinburne expressed his sympathy with it. In 1884 the DF renamed itself the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) and underwent an internal reorganisation. However, the group was facing an internal schism between those (such as Hyndman), who argued for a parliamentary path toward socialism, and those (like Morris) who deemed

7020-486: The centre is a chamfered doorway with a moulded arched head and carved spandrels above which is a canted oriel window with a steep roof against a gable with pinnacles and a finial at the top. The building is Grade II listed . The 1897 extension designed by Joseph Gibbon Sankey , at the rear of the building, was built in red brick and terracotta with Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style) decoration by W.J. Neatby, chief designer at Royal Doulton . In 2014

7137-414: The centre-left Liberal Party who opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli 's alliance with the Ottoman Empire ; the Association highlighted the Ottoman massacre of Bulgarians and feared that the alliance would lead Disraeli to join the Ottomans in going to war with the Russian Empire . Morris took an active role in the EQA campaign, authoring the lyrics for the song "Wake, London Lads!" to be sung at

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7254-473: The clergy. On a subsequent visit to Birmingham, Morris discovered Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur , which became a core Arthurian text for him and Burne-Jones. In January 1856, the Set began publication of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine , designed to contain "mainly Tales, Poetry, friendly critiques and social articles". Funded mainly by Morris, who briefly served as editor and heavily contributed to it with his own stories, poems, reviews and articles,

7371-575: The college and was bored by the manner in which they taught him Classics . Instead he developed a keen interest in Medieval history and Medieval architecture, inspired by the many Medieval buildings in Oxford. This interest was tied to Britain's growing Medievalist movement, a form of Romanticism that rejected many of the values of Victorian industrial capitalism . For Morris, the Middle Ages represented an era with strong chivalric values and an organic, pre-capitalist sense of community, both of which he deemed preferable to his own period. This attitude

7488-410: The colours to be of inferior quality, Morris rejected the chemical aniline dyes which were then predominant, instead emphasising the revival of organic dyes, such as indigo for blue, walnut shells and roots for brown, and cochineal , kermes , and madder for red. Living and working in this industrial environment, he gained a personal understanding of production and the lives of the proletariat, and

7605-540: The company's other partners drifting off to work on other projects, Morris decided to consolidate his own control of the Firm and become sole proprietor and manager. In March 1875, he paid £1000 each in compensation to Rossetti, Brown, and Marshall, although the other partners waived their claims to financial compensation. That month, the Firm was officially disbanded and replaced by Morris & Co , although Burne-Jones and Webb would continue to produce designs for it in future. This accomplished, he resigned his directorship of

7722-527: The construction of the Red House in the Kentish hamlet of Upton near Bexleyheath , ten miles from central London. The building's design was a co-operative effort, with Morris focusing on the interiors and the exterior being designed by Webb, for whom the House represented his first commission as an independent architect. Named after the red bricks and red tiles from which it was constructed, Red House rejected architectural norms by being L-shaped. Influenced by various forms of contemporary Neo-Gothic architecture,

7839-428: The country, Morris was interested in the Florentine Gothic architecture. Soon after, in July, Morris returned to Iceland, revisiting many of the sites he had previously seen, but then proceeding north to Vatna glacier and Fljótsdalur . His two visits to the country profoundly influenced him, in particular in his growing leftist opinions; he would comment that these trips made him realise that "the most grinding poverty

7956-436: The course of the River Thames , in August 1880 he and his family took a boat trip along the river from Kelmscott House to Kelmscott Manor. Morris became politically active in this period, coming to be associated with the radicalist current within British liberalism . He joined the Eastern Question Association (EQA) and was appointed the group's treasurer in November 1876. EQA had been founded by campaigners associated with

8073-448: The damage caused by architectural restoration. By the influence of medievalism and Christian socialism in the 1850s he became an skeptical of industrial capitalism, after reading works of Henry George , Alfred Russel Wallace , and Karl Marx in the 1880s Morris became a committed revolutionary socialist activist until his final acceptance of parliamentary socialism at 1896. He founded the Socialist League in 1884 after an involvement in

8190-423: The division between employer and employed, the company failed to live up to his own egalitarian ideals, but he defended this, asserting that it was impossible to run a socialist company within a competitive capitalist economy. The Firm itself was expanding, opening up a store in Manchester in 1883 and holding a stand at that year's Foreign Fair in Boston . Janey's relationship with Rossetti had continued through

8307-399: The existence of their affair by 1870. In this year he developed an affectionate friendship with Aglaia Coronio, the daughter of wealthy Greek refugees, although there is no evidence that they had an affair. Meanwhile, Morris's relationship with his mother had improved, and he would regularly take his wife and children to visit her at her house in Leyton . He also went on various holidays; in

8424-695: The fine arts and adopted an ethos of affordability and anti-elitism. For additional staff, they employed boys from the Industrial Home for Destitute Boys in Euston , central London, many of whom were trained as apprentices. Although working within the Neo-Gothic school of design, they differed from Neo-Gothic architects like George Gilbert Scott who simply included certain Gothic features on modern styles of building; instead they sought to return completely to Medieval Gothic methods of craftmanship. The products created by

8541-514: The first of which was A Book of Verse , completed as a birthday present for Georgina Burne-Jones. 12 of these 18 were handwritten copies of Nordic tales such as Halfdan the Black , Frithiof the Bold , and The Dwellers of Eyr . Morris deemed calligraphy to be an art form, and taught himself both Roman and italic script, as well as learning how to produce gilded letters. In November 1872 he published Love

8658-515: The following members: Other exhibitors included The Weaving School for Crippled Girls (1936), the Manchester School of Art , Salford School of Art and Bolton School of Art. William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer , poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement . He

8775-453: The furniture, walls, and ceilings, much of it based on Arthurian tales, the Trojan War , and Geoffrey Chaucer 's stories, while he also designed floral embroideries for the rooms. They also spent much time playing tricks on each other, enjoying games like hide and seek , and singing while accompanied by the piano. Siddall stayed at the House during summer and autumn 1861 as she recovered from

8892-847: The group's collapse. However, his discontent with the British liberal movement grew following the election of the Liberal Party's William Ewart Gladstone to the Premiership in 1880. Morris was particularly angered that Gladstone's government did not reverse the Disraeli regime's occupation of the Transvaal , introduced the Coercion Bill , and oversaw the Bombardment of Alexandria . Morris later related that while he had once believed that "one might further real Socialistic progress by doing what one could on

9009-563: The home of Burne-Jones, with the duo meeting on almost every Sunday morning for the rest of Morris's life. Leaving Jane and his children with Rossetti at Kelmscott, in July 1871 Morris left for Iceland with Faulkner, W. H. Evans, and Eiríkur. Sailing from the Scottish port of Granton aboard a Danish mail boat , they proceeded to the island via Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands before arriving at Reykjavík , where they disembarked. There they met

9126-436: The idea faded. In summer 1854, Morris travelled to Belgium to look at Medieval paintings, and in July 1855 went with Burne-Jones and Fulford across northern France, visiting Medieval churches and cathedrals. It was on this trip that he and Burne-Jones committed themselves to "a life of art". For Morris, this decision resulted in a strained relationship with his family, who believed that he should have entered either commerce or

9243-486: The idyllic Medievalist depictions of rural life which appeared in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites, and spent large sums of money purchasing such artworks. Burne-Jones shared this interest, but took it further by becoming an apprentice to one of the foremost Pre-Raphaelite painters, Dante Gabriel Rossetti ; the three soon became close friends. Through Rossetti, Morris came to associate with poet Robert Browning , and

9360-640: The late 14th century, the synopsis revolved around a group of Norsemen who flee the Black Death by sailing away from Europe, on the way discovering an island where the inhabitants continue to venerate the ancient Greek gods. Published in four parts by F. S. Ellis , it soon gained a cult following and established Morris's reputation as a major poet. By 1870, Morris had become a public figure in Britain, resulting in repeated press requests for photographs, which he despised. That year, he also reluctantly agreed to sit for

9477-547: The leading figure in the League, Morris embarked on a series of speeches and talks on street corners, in working men's clubs , and in lecture theatres across England and Scotland. He also visited Dublin , there offering his support for Irish nationalism , and formed a branch of the League at his Hammersmith house. By the time of their first conference in July 1885, the League had eight branches across England and had affiliations with several socialist groups in Scotland. However, as

9594-506: The lines of ordinary middle-class Radicalism", following Gladstone's election he came to realise "that Radicalism is on the wrong line, so to say, and will never develope [sic] into anything more than Radicalism: in fact that it is made for and by the middle classes and will always be under the control of rich capitalists". In 1876, Morris visited the Church of St John the Baptist, Burford , where he

9711-467: The magazine lasted for twelve issues, and garnered praise from Tennyson and Ruskin. Having passed his finals and been awarded a BA , Morris began an apprenticeship with the Oxford-based Neo-Gothic architect George Edmund Street in January 1856. His apprenticeship focused on architectural drawing, and there he was placed under the supervision of the young architect Philip Webb , who became

9828-624: The newspaper, in doing so befriending another contributor, George Bernard Shaw . His socialist activism monopolised his time, forcing him to abandon a translation of the Persian Shahnameh . It also led to him seeing far less of Burne-Jones, with whom he had strong political differences; although once a republican , Burne-Jones had become increasingly conservative, and felt that the DF were exploiting Morris for his talents and influence. While Morris devoted much time to trying to convert his friends to

9945-665: The novels of Walter Scott . Aged 6, Morris moved with his family to the Georgian Italianate mansion at Woodford Hall , Woodford, Essex , which was surrounded by 50 acres of land adjacent to Epping Forest . He took an interest in fishing with his brothers as well as gardening in the Hall's grounds, and spent much time exploring the Forest, where he was fascinated both by the Iron Age earthworks at Loughton Camp and Ambresbury Banks and by

10062-504: The ongoing restoration of Tewkesbury Abbey and was vociferous in denouncing the architects responsible, something that deeply upset Street. Turning SPAB's attention abroad, in Autumn 1879 Morris launched a campaign to protect St Mark's Basilica in Venice from restoration, garnering a petition with 2000 signatures, among whom were Disraeli, Gladstone, and Ruskin. In summer 1881, Morris took out

10179-481: The others. At Rossetti's recommendation, Morris and Burne-Jones moved in together to the flat at Bloomsbury's No. 17 Red Lion Square by November 1856. Morris designed and commissioned furniture for the flat in a Medieval style, much of which he painted with Arthurian scenes in a direct rejection of mainstream artistic tastes. Morris also continued writing poetry and began designing illuminated manuscripts and embroidered hangings. In March 1857 Bell and Dandy published

10296-419: The outbreak of war in 1939. In 1925 the exhibition had 32 stalls; by the 1950s the number was over 80. The 1926 Arts and Crafts yearbook read “a general colour scheme was introduced of cream outlined with black and gold which proved an excellent background for the exhibits.” May 1939 saw a month-long exhibition at Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, including, for the first time, calligraphy, and bookbinding. In

10413-474: The role of honorary secretary and treasurer, most of the other early members of SPAB were his friends, while the group's program was rooted in Ruskin's The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849). As part of SPAB's campaign, Morris tried to build connections with art and antiquarian societies and the custodians of old buildings, and also contacted the press to highlight his cause. He was particularly strong in denouncing

10530-520: The same year the Guild opened a shop on St Ann Street, Manchester. In 1940 the Guild moved its headquarters to The Whitworth Hall. The Guild held joint exhibitions with the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society at the Manchester City Art Gallery in 1940, and in London in 1941 and 1944. The 1941 catalogue had an introduction by Nikolaus Pevsner , who “predicted a bright future for the crafts after

10647-729: The school's foundation. The first head from 1838 was John Zephaniah Bell , who pursued a fine art curriculum until 1843. John Cassidy studied in 1883 and taught there for a year in 1887. Walter Crane was the Director of Design from 1893 to 1898. Adolphe Valette was a teacher there from 1906 to 1920. On 1 December 2020 Professor Martyn Evans was appointed as Director of Manchester School of Art. Its graduates include L.S. Lowry , Eugene Halliday , Liam Spencer , Ossie Clark , Martin Parr , Malcolm Garrett , Peter Saville , Thomas Heatherwick , Roger Hampson and Audrey Albert . Sylvia Pankhurst

10764-553: The strikers. The following month he marched in a central London demonstration commemorating the first anniversary of Marx's death and the thirteenth anniversary of the Paris Commune . Morris aided the DF using his artistic and literary talents; he designed the group's membership card, and helped author their manifesto, Socialism Made Plain , in which they demanded improved housing for workers, free compulsory education for all children, free school meals, an eight-hour working day ,

10881-683: The summer of 1866 he, Webb, and Taylor toured the churches of northern France. In August 1866 Morris joined the Burne-Jones family on their holiday in Lymington , while in August 1867 both families holidayed together in Oxford. In August 1867 the Morrises holidayed in Southwold , Suffolk , while in the summer of 1869 Morris took his wife to Bad Ems in Rhineland-Palatinate , central Germany, where it

10998-563: The survival of craft skills.” This debate resulted in craftworkers being exempt from “punitive” post-war purchase tax . Alongside this they developed a craftsman's licence scheme. In 1950 the Guild joined the Crafts Centre of Great Britain , alongside the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society , the Society of Scribes & Illuminators , the Senefelder Club and the Society of Wood Engravers . The Guild's name evolved over time. Founded as

11115-488: The very few necessary and inevitable utterances of the century". Morris adopted Ruskin's philosophy of rejecting the tawdry industrial manufacture of decorative arts and architecture in favour of a return to hand-craftsmanship, raising artisans to the status of artists, creating art that should be affordable and hand-made, with no hierarchy of artistic mediums. Ruskin had achieved attention in Victorian society for championing

11232-713: The war.” The first exhibition in Manchester after WWII was held in November 1946. From 1963 to 1974 the Guild had a permanent exhibition space featuring members’ products at the Crane Gallery, South King Street, Manchester. In 1971 the Guild held an exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery to mark its 50th anniversary. The 1984 exhibition was held in June at the Royal Northern College of Music . The journal Crafts

11349-462: The working-classes and poor, Morris felt personally conflicted in serving the interests of these individuals, privately describing it as "ministering to the swinish luxury of the rich". Continuing with his literary output, Morris translated his own version of Virgil 's Aeneid , titling it The Aeneids of Vergil (1876). Although many translations were already available, often produced by trained Classicists, Morris claimed that his unique perspective

11466-455: Was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain. Morris was born in Walthamstow , Essex , to a wealthy middle-class family. He came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying classics at Oxford University , where he joined

11583-661: Was a small, fledgling and vaguely defined movement, with only a few hundred adherents. Britain's first socialist party, the Democratic Federation (DF), had been founded in 1881 by Henry Hyndman , an adherent of the socio-political ideology of Marxism , with Morris joining the DF in January 1883. Morris began to read voraciously on the subject of socialism, including Henry George 's Progress and Poverty , Alfred Russel Wallace 's Land Nationalisation , and Karl Marx 's Das Kapital , although admitted that Marx's economic analysis of capitalism gave him "agonies of confusion on

11700-569: Was a student at the school. Susan Dacre and Annie Swynnerton formed the Society of Women Painters and Swynnerton became the first woman to be elected to the Royal Academy since its inception in 1768. John Mayall enrolled at the School of Art in the 1950s. British bluegrass music pioneers Tom Travis and Tom (Smiley) Bowker enrolled at the School of Art in the 1950s. Other notable musicians to attend

11817-489: Was appalled at the restoration conducted by his old mentor, G. E. Street. He recognised that these programs of architectural restoration led to the destruction or major alteration of genuinely old features in order to replace them with "sham old" features, something which appalled him. To combat the increasing trend for restoration, in March 1877 he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), which he personally referred to as "Anti-Scrape". As he adopted

11934-833: Was arrested himself after fighting back against a police officer; a magistrate dismissed the charges. The Black Monday riots of February 1886 led to increased political repression against left-wing agitators, and in July Morris was again arrested and fined for public obstruction while preaching socialism on the streets. Morris oversaw production of the League's monthly—soon to become weekly—newspaper, Commonweal , serving as its editor for six years, during which time he kept it financially afloat. First published in February 1885, it would contain contributions from such prominent socialists as Engels, Shaw, Paul Lafargue , Wilhelm Liebknecht , and Karl Kautsky , with Morris also regularly writing articles and poems for it. In Commonweal he serialised

12051-438: Was as "a poet not a pedant". He also continued producing translations of Icelandic tales with Magnússon, including Three Northern Love Stories (1875) and Völuspa Saga (1876). In 1877 Morris was approached by Oxford University and offered the largely honorary position of Professor of Poetry. He declined, asserting that he felt unqualified, knowing little about scholarship on the theory of poetry. In summer 1876 Jenny Morris

12168-540: Was built in Cavendish Street in 1880–81 to the designs of G. T. Redmayne . On a rectangular plan it was constructed in sandstone ashlar with buff terracotta dressings. It is two storeys high above a basement and has slate roofs with glazed skylights. Its symmetrical facade , built in the Neo-Gothic style , has large gabled wings with pinnacles at either side of its buttressed and blind arcaded main range. In

12285-575: Was compounded by his reading of Thomas Carlyle 's book Past and Present (1843), in which Carlyle championed Medieval values as a corrective to the problems of Victorian society. Under this influence, Morris's dislike of contemporary capitalism grew, and he came to be influenced by the work of Christian socialists Charles Kingsley and Frederick Denison Maurice . At the college, Morris met fellow first-year undergraduate Edward Burne-Jones , who became his lifelong friend and collaborator. Although from very different backgrounds, they found that they had

12402-446: Was diagnosed with epilepsy . Refusing to allow her to be societally marginalised or institutionalised, as was common in the period, Morris insisted that she be cared for by the family. When Janey took May and Jenny to Oneglia in Italy, the latter suffered a serious seizure, with Morris rushing to the country to see her. They then proceeded to visit a number of other cities, including Venice , Padua , and Verona , with Morris attaining

12519-489: Was disgusted by the poor living conditions of workers and the pollution caused by industry; these factors greatly influenced his political views. After learning the skills of dyeing, in the late 1870s Morris turned his attention to weaving, experimenting with silk weaving at Queen's Square. In the Spring of 1877, the Firm opened a store at No. 449 Oxford Street and obtained new staff who were able to improve its professionalism; as

12636-401: Was edited by Harry Norris from 1940 to 1946. He used it “to advance a series of anti-industrial polemics”. The magazine featured the “last thoughts of Eric Gill ” together with essays by H. J. Massingham , Percy Beales, Anthony Gardner and Michael Cardew . It was published until at least 1948. Early organisers of the Guild included founder, Margaret Pilkington OBE (1891–1974), who remained on

12753-603: Was established in 1838 as the Manchester School of Design. It is the second oldest art school in the United Kingdom after the Royal College of Art which was founded the year before. It is now part of Manchester Metropolitan University . The school opened in the basement of the Manchester Royal Institution on Mosley Street in 1838. It became the School of Art in 1853 and moved to Cavendish Street in 1880. It

12870-402: Was hoped that the local health waters would aid her ailments. While there, he enjoyed walks in the countryside and focused on writing poetry. Morris had continued to devote much time to writing poetry. In 1867 Bell and Dandy published Morris's epic poem, The Life and Death of Jason , at his own expense. The book was a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of the hero Jason and his quest to find

12987-526: Was imitative of much of theirs. Both he and Burne-Jones were influenced by the Romanticist milieu and the Anglo-Catholic movement, and decided to become clergymen in order to found a monastery where they could live a life of chastity and dedication to artistic pursuit, akin to that of the contemporary Nazarene movement . However, as time went on Morris became increasingly critical of Anglican doctrine and

13104-572: Was introduced to the poet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt , with whom she embarked on a second affair, which Morris might have been aware of. In January 1881 Morris was involved in the establishment of the Radical Union , an amalgam of radical working-class groups which hoped to rival the Liberals, and became a member of its executive committee. However, he soon rejected liberal radicalism completely and moved toward socialism . In this period, British socialism

13221-530: Was marked by the opening of the new Benzie Building and the refurbishment of the Chatham Tower. The school comprises five departments, the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA), formed in 1996 and jointly administered with the University of Manchester , the Department of Art & Performance which incorporates the Manchester School of Theatre , the Department of Design , Manchester Fashion Institute and

13338-442: Was regularly criticised for doing so by the mainstream press. In November 1883 he was invited to speak at University College, Oxford , on the subject of "Democracy and Art" and there began espousing socialism; this shocked and embarrassed many members of staff, earning national press coverage. With other DF members, he travelled to Blackburn, Lancashire in February 1884 amid the great cotton strike, where he lectured on socialism to

13455-604: Was subsequently named the Municipal School of Art. In 1880, the school admitted female students, at the time the only higher education available to women, although men and women were segregated. The school was extended in 1897. The school became part of Manchester Polytechnic in 1970 and is now part of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the Manchester Metropolitan University . Its 175th anniversary in 2013

13572-527: Was the most affluent member of the Set, and was generous with his wealth toward the others. Like Morris, the Set were fans of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson , and would meet together to recite the plays of William Shakespeare . Morris was heavily influenced by the writings of the art critic John Ruskin , being particularly inspired by his chapter "On the Nature of Gothic Architecture" in the second volume of The Stones of Venice ; he later described it as "one of

13689-584: Was then sent to Misses Arundale's Academy for Young Gentlemen, a nearby preparatory school; although initially riding there by pony each day, he later began boarding, intensely disliking the experience. In 1847, Morris's father died unexpectedly. From this point, the family relied upon continued income from the copper mines at Devon Great Consols , and sold Woodford Hall to move into the smaller Water House . In February 1848 Morris began his studies at Marlborough College in Marlborough, Wiltshire , where he gained

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