William Morris

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for William Morris fans
Review: Elizabeth Wilhide's superb "William Morris: Decor and Design" will be a real treat for William Morris fans. Wilhide combines dozens of sumptuous color photographs of Morris interiors with an overview of his life, his influences, and his artistic goals. I learned a number of interesting things about his personal background, such as:

- His beautiful wife Jane had a long affair with fellow artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti;
- In addition to his design work, he was such a respected poet that he was offered the poet laureateship of England once Tennyson had died;
- Many of his designs are still in active production today, more than a century after his death.

Morris shunned the effect the Industrial Revolution had had on the arts in England (and elsewhere) and proposed that hand-crafted art, furniture, wallpaper, and so on be the goal of an artists' cooperative he helped to found. He felt that art should be in every home and that it should be useful, beautiful to look at, and durable. This success of the cooperative produced the uncomfortable situation, for Morris, of having art be so beautifully and painstakingly produced by hand that, in the end, only the wealthy could afford it.

The photographs of Morris interiors, wallpaper designs, furniture, and more, are absolutely sumptuous, and Wilhide's well-informed and well-written text helps to expand our understanding of the whole of Morris' life. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: This is a beautiful, must-have interior design book!
Review: With its stunning photographs, reproduced in exceptional color, William Morris: Décor & Design is a fine interior design book that belongs on every coffee table. This book will surely win more appreciation for the diverse talents of the great designer, especially when newcomers to Morris see the breadth of his talents presented so beautifully. As a long-time admirer, I have many books about the 19th century designer, poet, fantasist, etc., but this is one of my favorites, as well as one of the most complete books on his design that I have seen. Photographs range from the colorful interiors of houses and public buildings decorated by Morris for clients, to the homes he actually lived in. Insets show details of his striking patterns, from wallpaper to tapestry to upholstery fabric to curtains, as well as pages from his illuminated books and the Morris & Co. catalog. Non-Morris interiors are shown for comparison. A pictorial glossary of his most common patterns completes the book. Further, the biography chapter is a good, comprehensive introduction to Morris, describing his forays into politics and literature, as well as his many efforts in all aspects of design. I recommend this beautifully designed book, a fitting tribute to Morris's own delight in design, to any lover of beauty in art and design.