Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 8, 2004|Volume 33, Number 6

This lodden printed cotton, first issued in 1884, is one example of textile designs created by William Morris that will be on view in the exhibition.

Design icon William Morris
is focus of new exhibit

The British artist and design icon William Morris once described art and beauty as being integral to life itself, saying, "Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is ... no mere accident to human life ... but a positive necessity of life, if we are to live as nature meant us to; that is, unless we are content to be less than men."

Nearly 200 works he fashioned during a multifaceted career with the goal of creating beauty through art will be on view in an exhibition opening Thursday, Oct. 14 at the Yale Center for British Art.

The center will be the only East Coast venue for the exhibition, titled "'The Beauty of Life': William Morris and the Art of Design," which includes the artist's original designs for stained glass, wallpaper, textiles, embroidery, tapestry and books. The exhibition was organized by the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, which owns the largest collection of Morris materials outside of the United Kingdom. Elizabeth Fairman, curator of rare books and manuscripts at the British Art Center, is the in-house curator of the show.

Especially well known by the public for his leaf-strewn wallpaper, textile and tapestry designs, Morris (1834-1896) is considered one of Britain's most creative artists. He was a man of numerous talents and trades -- an interior designer, book printer, poet, weaver, embroiderer, dyer and calligrapher -- as well as a staunch socialist, a businessman and an architectural preservationist.

For over 30 years, he devoted his life to the decorative arts as the head of the internationally successful firm Morris & Company, and later in life founded the Kelmscott Press with artists Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown, and the architect Philip Webb.

One highlight of the museum's exhibition will be an 18-foot-tall stained glass window, designed by Morris' business partner and friend Edward Burne-Jones, which will fill the center's entrance court during the run of the exhibition. This large Morris & Company window, taken from the now demolished Unitarian Chapel in Heywood, Lancashire, offers exhibition visitors the opportunity to see the firm's glass up close.

Also on view will be Morris' original designs for stained glass, wallpaper, textiles, embroidery, tapestry and books, as well as correspondence, a selection of rare editions published by the Kelmscott Press and the manuscript for Morris' major poetic work, "The Earthly Paradise." Some three dozen drawings, rare books and manuscripts from the British Art Center's collections and from Yale libraries will complement the show.

Morris founded Morris & Company in 1861 and took an active role in the firm's creative enterprises, mastering all aspects of the production and design of stained glass, wallpaper, printed and woven textiles and tapestry. The exhibition demonstrates the design and production processes of the firm, from pencil and watercolor sketches to the company's original "Minute Book." A section of the exhibition is devoted to the lesser-known activities of the firm after Morris' death until its dissolution in 1940, focusing on the work of John Henry Dearle, Morris' chosen successor as primary designer.

"'The Beauty of Life'" also explores how the artist fashioned new forms and styles based upon his passion for the art and culture of the past, building a modern art upon medieval foundations. His idealization of a medieval model of life that integrated creativity and labor led him to become a committed socialist, according to organizers of the exhibition. A selection of material related to his political activities will be on view.

A fully illustrated companion publication accompanies the exhibition and is available at the museum. The exhibition runs through Jan. 2.

A number of special events will be offered at the Yale Center for British Art in conjunction with the exhibition. On Wednesday, Oct. 13, independent scholar Alan Crawford will give a lecture coinciding with the exhibit opening at 5:30 p.m. Crawford specializes in the history of British architecture and decorative arts in the decades around 1900.

Diane Waggoner, the curator of the William Morris exhibition and the assistant curator in the Department of Photographs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will present an Art in Context lunchtime talk at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19. Her talk is titled "Pattern and Poetry: William Morris and the Art of Design."

Former Yale University printer Greer Allen, now a senior critic at the School of Art, will give a talk on "How William Morris Shaped Today's Graphic Design" on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 p.m.

Other offerings related to the exhibition will appear in the "Calendar" section of future issues of this newspaper.

The Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., is open to the public free of charge Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. It is open until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays through Nov. 22 and will be open late on selected Thursday evenings in December. For more information, call (203) 432-2800 or visit the center's website at www.yale.edu/ycba.

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