William Morris – One Of The Most Outstanding Figures Of The 19th Century

There are a lot of famous artists from the 19th century. From Pablo Picasso to Vincent van Gough, but William Morris was not just an artist. He was a textile designer, poet, novelist, translator, and social activist. His creations ranged from paintings, novels, and even houses! He designed tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. He was an extremely successful artist and is known as “one of the most outstanding figures of the nineteenth century”. How did he become this way and what made him so famous. Well, let’s take a closer look into Morris’ life. 

William Morris was born on March 24th, 1834. He was born in Walthamstow, Essex to a wealthy, middle class family. He came under the strong influence of medievalism whilst studying at Oxford University. After university, he studied to be an architect, got married, and developed friendships with other artists, such as Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He later designed a house, called the Red House, which he lived in with his wife from 1859-1865. In 1861, he, along with Edward Burne-Jones, founded Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. This was run by both William and Edward until 1875, where Morris assumed control of the entire company, and renamed it to Morris & Co. 

Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire in 1871 while also having a home in London. He was greatly influenced by frequent trips to Iceland and produced a series of English translated versions of Icelandic Sagas. He also gained popularity from his poems and novels. Some examples are The Earthly Paradise, A Dream of John Ball, and News From Nowhere. He was involved in many campaigns and social activist movements, such as the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, and the Social Democratic Federation. He also founded the Socialist League in 1884. He broke with that organization in 1890 and founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891, which focused on limited edition, illuminated style print books. He worked on this project until his passing in 1896. 

There are many famous paintings by Williams Morris, but the most popular, and interesting is Strawberry Thief. It depicts a repeating pattern that was very popular design for Morris’ textile design. It shows a bunch of birds stealing strawberries from a luscious, green garden. The design was based off of the thrushes (small songbirds) that Morris found stealing strawberries from his kitchen garden of his countryside home in Kelmscott Manor, in Oxfordshire. The design uses very cool colors, such as green, blue, purple, and white. This is a very simple, yet beautiful design and was very popular among home owners in the mid to late 19th century. 

In conclusion, William Morris was a very popular, inspirational, and creative artist of the 19th century. His ability to not only draw art, but also be an architect, poet, and novelist and be popular and successful in all forms. His ability to turn his life and his experiences into his work. His art is shown in many museums and is inspiration for artists all around the world. He even helped launch the British Arts and Crafts Movement. Overall, Morris was an extremely prominent figure in 19th century art and his novels, poems, artworks, and textile designs will be remembered for centuries to come.