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William Morris
William Morris (1834-1896) was among the most creative artists Britain has ever produced. His accomplishments are extraordinary in their range and depth. He was a revolutionary interior designer and book printer, a staunch socialist, a famous and prolific poet, a weaver, embroiderer, dyer, calligrapher, translator, businessman, and architectural preservationist. He established the internationally successful firm Morris & Company, for which he mastered the design and production of stained glass, wallpaper, printed and woven textiles, carpet, and tapestry.
William Morris embraced an ideal that viewed modern art as mere mass production, with none of the uniqueness of earlier approaches, in particular Medieval art, which he believed retained more of the artist's original personality in the work. All Morris tapestries are a testament to craftsmanship, technique and discipline, as well as triumphing the artist above the process. It is for this reason that these wall tapestries are valued as highly as they are today. Each piece really is a one-off, and combines modern weaving technique with the striking dynamism of pre-Renaissance art.
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