Anarchy & Beauty: William Morris and His Legacy, 1860 - 1960

Fiona MacCarthy

ISBN 10: 1855144840 / ISBN 13: 9781855144842

Published by National Portrait Gallery, 2014

About this Item

Invitation to the Anarchy & Beauty exhibition and personal note by the author taped to the front free end paper. Black and white photographs of William Morris as the front and rear covers. Pattern of light purple plants as the spine. White and red lettering on the front cover. White lettering on the spine. Black lettering on the rear cover. Slight bumping to the upper edge of the covers. Some rubbing to the lower edge of the covers. Black & white and colour photographs of different art pieces throughout the pages. 266 x 237 x 20 mm. 183 pages.

Seller Inventory # 003957

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Anarchy & Beauty: William Morris and His Legacy, 1860 - 1960
• Publisher: National Portrait Gallery
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1855144840
• ISBN 13: 9781855144842
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

William Morris (1834–1896) was an artist, craftsman, designer, poet, polymath, and visionary thinker. Well known for advocating that objects of beauty be accessible to all, Morris had a tremendous impact on the British Socialist movement, the Arts and Crafts movement, the Garden City movement, as well as on successive generations of artists and thinkers in Britain and beyond. In this fascinating book, Fiona MacCarthy examines Morris’s vision of a society in which art could flourish, and how this idea resonated over the ensuing century.
Anarchy and Beauty takes the reader through Morris’s fascinating career, from the establishment of his decorative arts shop (later Morris & Co.), to his radical sexual politics and libertarianism, and the publication in 1890 of his novel News from Nowhere, which envisions a utopian socialist society. MacCarthy then looks at the numerous artists and movements that bear the influence of Morris’s ideas: Arts and Crafts and the Garden City, which took hold in both Europe and the United States; artists’ communities that sprung up during the interwar years; and the 1951 Festival of Britain, whose mission was to bring the highest standards of design within the reach of everyone.

Book Description

This beautifully illustrated book portrays the life of an artist and writer who revolutionized Victorian society and whose legacy is still widely embraced today.