This five-week course traces the lifelong friendship and creative partnership that revolutionised Victorian art and design. Morris and Burne-Jones met at Exeter College Oxford in 1853; until Morris’s death in 1896 they were almost inseparable. Sharing a common love for Medievalism and a hatred of the Industrial age, they both fell under the spell of Pre-Raphaelite painter-poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Painting the Oxford Union murals in the summer of 1857, ushered in a second Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It was also during that fateful summer that Jane Burden was ‘discovered’. As Rossetti’s model and muse Jane became the embodiment of Pre-Raphaelite beauty. With his impending marriage to Jane, Morris built a splendid new home, Red House at Bexleyheath. Creating furniture, stained-glass, tiles and embroideries inspired Morris and his friends to found Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861. The Firm found favour with Gothic Revival architects G.F. Bodley and George Gilbert Scott. Creating beautiful wallpapers and textiles, the Firm transformed the domestic interior into a work of art. In the 1880s Morris and Burne-Jones collaborated on the ambitious stained-glass windows for St Philips’, Birmingham and the Holy Grail tapestries. Morris’s quest for ‘beautiful things of everyday use’ lay the foundations for the international Arts and Crafts Movement.
Please note there will be no class on 17.02.27 due to half term.
Over 5 weeks, you will learn about:
None - just a willingness to learn.
Please bring a notebook and pencil
We introduce new Art History specialisms every term. To broaden your expertise, you may also consider exploring our related courses in History, or practical Drawing & Painting classes.