William Morris vs. Renaissance Period

The Arts and Crafts movement developed in the late 19th century. This new style that designers soon adopted challenged the specific tastes of the Victorian era, and were influenced by social reform thinkers ("The Arts and Crafts Movement"). One of these thinkers was William Morris (Meggs, Purvis 177). In this particular blog I will be focusing on Morris's path in context to his artistic and designer abilities. William Morris is best known for his designs that were on fabrics and wallpaper. He gave value to art by focusing on hand-crafted artwork instead of factory-made. I chose William Morris as my second blog reflection, because I believe that his artwork from the 1800's has a strong Renaissance influence. 

Above: Hollyer, Frederick. William Morris. 1884. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Victoria and Albert Museum. Web. 1 February 2014.

The Arts and Craft movement involved many artists like  William Morris, who believed that the Industrial Revolution was destroying the trade of traditional skill and moving toward machine only production ("William Morris: Father of the Arts & Crafts Movement"). Morris had the idea that any hand crafted goods were better quality than goods that were created by any type of urban factory. When looking at many of Morris's designs they all have a strong Gothic art style, but to also incorporate nature as much as possible. Morris believed that "nature was the perfect example of God's design," ("William Morris (1834-1896)"). When Morris creates his artwork, he believed through his practice he was glorifying God ("William Morris (1834-1896)").   

Above: Morris, William. Trellis. 1862. ArtyFactory.com. Web. 1 February 2014.

'Trellis' was Morris's first wallpaper designs. As seen above, you can see how not only is nature highly influenced, but there is a Renaissance style to his artwork. It copies a lot of the illuminated manuscripts and tapestries that were popular in that time period’s art. Today Morris's wallpaper designs are still published in high quality, like 'African Marigold' or 'Tulip and Willow'. This shows how strong Morris’s influence has been throughout the years. 

Above: Morris, William. African Marigold. 1876. ArtyFactory.com. Web. 1 February 2014.


Above: Above: Morris, William. Tulip and Willow. 1873. ArtyFactory.com. Web. 1 February 2014.

Another influence William Morris had on the Arts and Crafts Movement is Kelmscott Press. Morris's Kelmscott Press was founded in 1891, and continued Morris's view on hand-crafted art ("William Morris (1834-1896)"). Kelmscott Press produced hand-printed books, which all had a Renaissance style. Along with Kelmscott Press printing books, he also created three typefaces: Golden, Chaucer, and Troy (Jones, "William Morris: Father of the Arts & Crafts Movement"). When looking at the typefaces, the style especially Troy and Chaucer, have the same look as Italian typeface designed by Ludovico Vicentini in 1522. 

Above: William Morris. Typefaces. 1897. Web. 1 February 2014.


Above: Ludovicus Vicenrini. 1522. Web. 1 February 2014.

Overall, looking at William Morris style, I believe that he has adopted not only the Renaissance style in fine arts, but also the lifestyle by emphasizing hand-crafted artwork versus factory made. I believe that this is a relevant argument in today's society when it comes to art, local stores, or anything made in the USA in general. I quite agree with Morris's philosophy on fine arts. I believe that hand-crafted items have a higher value due to the immense work and passion artists of any kind put into their masterpieces. 

Reference:
Devroye, Luc. "Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi da Vicenza". McGill University. 2014. Web. 1 February 2014.
http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-32497.html

Jirousek, Charlotte. "The Arts and Crafts Movement." Art, Design, and Visual Thinking. 1995. Cornell University. Web. 1 February 2014.
http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/decart/artcraft/artcraft.htm

Jones, Ralph. "William Morris: Father of the Arts and Crafts Movement". The Arts & Crafts Society. 1995. Web. 1 February 2014.
http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/wmorris.shtml

Meggs, Philip and Alston Purvis. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. Print.

"William Morris (1834-1896)" Artsy Factory. 2014. Web. 1 February 2014. http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/william_morris.html