Art Appreciation: William Morris

William Morris was a prolific advocator of the Art and Craft movement . The course gives exquisite detail on the background and life of William Morris and explores his upbringing and his interests and the influences which led to his ultimate involvement in the Arts and Craft movement . In particular his fascination for elaborate and intricate medieval monastic art . Especially illuminated manuscript which he replicated .His early influences were the beauty of craftmanship and scholastic endeavours. We will compare his early love of nature from the vast countryside and gardens he grew up in and how these translated into surface pattern design.We will discover the reasons for the development of this movement by exploring how the social and economic influences of the time acted as a catalyst to produce some amazing art works and furnishings. We will draw comparisons to previous art and design movements within our study of the design period and the reasons for the beautiful simplistic lines of art and craft artifacts.