William
Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites
William
Morris (1834-1896) was a socialist, writer and craftsmen.
His career
as an artist began at Oxford and after graduation he ended up in
London, painting under the direction of Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
the leading light of Pre-Raphaelites (a loose group of artists intent
on regaining the spiritual purity characteristic of art before Rapheal
and the Renaissance.
In 1861
William Morris founded Morris & Co whose designs came to embody
the ideas of the Arts and Crafts Movement .
William
Morris's own designs for fabrics, wallpapers and numerous other
products were to prove a massive influence in Britain (the Laura
Ashley aesthetic is a lineal descendant of Morris's rustic nostalgia).
In 1890,
William Morris set up the Kelmscott Press named after his summer
home, Kelmscott
Manor.
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