William Morris was born March 24, 1834 and he lived until October 3, 1896. Morris had studied Architecture in school, but he had always had the aspirations to be an artist and a painter. He went to the school of Oxford, and there he met a fellow painter, Edward Burne-Jones. This friendship led him to meet the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood. After coming into contact with this group, he met a woman named Jane Burden. She was a favorite model of the Pre-Raphaelite. He married her in 1859, and soon after, he hired Philip Webb to build them a house. Webb built the house and achieved exactly what Morris was looking for. (Gothic Medieval themes) William Morris then spent around two years furnishing the inside. He did this mostly alone, but he did have a little help from the artists he had met along the way. They were so successful in the designing of the house that they decided to go into business together. Thus, in April 1861 Morris and his friends decided to start their own company. Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. was the name and they produced all kinds of furnishings like: stained glass, furniture, embroidery, and wallpaper was added later since Morris could not find any that he liked enough to put in his own house. Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. had a large impact on the design and décor of churches and houses well into the 20th century.
William Morris is mainly known for his designs on wallpapers and fabrics. He applied the concepts and values of fine art to commercial products which has influenced designs even now. Morris said that the “diligent study of Nature” was very important because nature was the best example of the perfect design that God had created. He based many of his works off of this idea. He also did not like the art of the age he was in, at the time there was a decline in social and artistic standards. He was always encouraging his fellow artists to be inspired by the past during the Gothic and Middle ages. Morris thought that at those times, artists created and expressed their creativity to glorify God and did the best to their ability. Most of his works are very “flowery” and nature inspired because of these beliefs. Most of his classic designs are still available to be made into wallpaper or textiles. William Morris’ goal was to draw the natural forms he saw outdoors and bring those shapes inside homes.
One of Morris’ favorite pieces was the Trellis (1862) which was pattern based overlaid with flowers. He saw this at the Red House (where he lived). Philip Webb, his contractor, added the insects and birds, seen on this artwork, at a later time. Morris liked this piece so much; he actually used it as wallpaper to decorate his own room. He also got into printing on books. He founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891. William used the style of medieval times for the title pages, borders, and typefaces. It was recorded Morris saying, “I began printing books with the hope of producing some which would have a definite claim to beauty, while at the same time they should be easy to read and should not dazzle the eye……I found I had to consider chiefly the following things: the paper, the form of the type, the relative spacing of the letters, the words, and the lines; and lastly the position of the printed matter on the page.”
