WILLIAM MORRIS (1834–1896) was an English artist, writer, socialist, businessman, and founder of a printing press. In his thinking, medieval romance, the beauty of everyday life, and the right to meaningful work were intertwined. The exhibition examines Morris’s work through four key themes: the idealisation of the Middle Ages, the home as a total work of art, the community of artists and craftsmen, and social activism. These themes are illustrated by wallpaper and textile designs, ceramics, furniture, books, and works by artists from Morris’s circle, from the collections of the William Morris Society and the William Morris Gallery.

 

From the 1880s onwards, Morris’s ideas spread to Finland through the Arts and Crafts movement. Objects from Finnish museums and private collections featured in the exhibition testify the transmission of his legacy to a new, internationally oriented generation of artists and architects at the turn of the 20th century.