"The Earthly Paradise", A Really Long Poem by Wm Morris

......about the quest for true love.

Cupid Finding Psyche, Edward Burne-Jones (ca. 1865)

An excerpt from: The Story of Cupid and Psyche.....

Albert, Righter, and Tittmann -- Modern Traditionalists

Last Thursday night my friend Dan Cooper, who the leader of the free world calls when he needs an historically accurate carpet for a certain famous bedroom, invited me to accompany him to his book launch at the Tavern Club in Boston.  The book is New Classic American Houses: The Architecture of Albert, Righter & Tittmann and while Dan is a fantastic writer, it is really the photographs that are the stars of this book.  I met the architects Albert, Righter and Tittmann, who were lovely and gracious, but I left wondering if they intentionally ordered their names so as to spell AR&T (how perfect) and what's up with architects and bow-ties?  Their "Modern Traditional" designs hearken back to the days of McKim, Mead & White and I sure Wm Morris would agree with Robert Stern's very Morris-sounding sentiment in the foreward to this book: “What a pleasure it is to have an architecture so beautifully naturalized—to site, to purpose, and to tradition.”  Here are my favorite AR&T houses/interiors......

A wooden wonder......

This one reminds me of the traditional architecture of the Gaeltacht of western Ireland....

Shouldn't everybody have a porch with a fireplace?.....

The Checkerboard House....

The Guest Cottage.....the yellow sashes are inspired....

The Houses of McKim, Mead & White

The Gamble House post reminded me of the book The Houses of McKim, Mead & Whiteby Samuel G. White that I've had for over a decade and often go to for ideas and inspiration.  Over the last few years I've slowly had all the shingles on the first floor of my house replaced.  The addition of the shingle diamond over front steps and the geometric motif on a bump-out on the southern wall were both inspired by houses in this book.  The 16 diamond shingles were cut from regular shingles.

Life imitates Art, or Art imitates Life?

Prosperpine, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874, modeled by Jane Burden

Yesterday's post reminded me of a book I read in the mid-90s called Pre-Raphaelites in Love by Gay Daly.  This book was such an eye-opener.  Both the front and back inside covers of my copy are filled with notes about who loved whom, who was married to whom, who lusted after whom, etc.  It was fascinating reading.   William Morris's personal life was no exception.  Morris fell in love with a stablehand's daughter named Jane Burden, who had been discovered by, and modeled for, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and one of Morris's best friends.  Morris and Jane married but for many years Jane carried on an affair with Rossetti, with Rossetti even living in their home with them for a number of years.  All very unvictorian I would say.

This painting "The Tree of Forgiveness" by Edward Burne-Jones is on the hardcover edition of Daly's book.  The original is at the Lady Lever Gallery in Liverpool, England.  From their web site:

"After the conquest of Troy, Demophoön stayed at the Thracian court where Phyllis, the king’s daughter, fell in love with him. They agreed to marry but he had first to return to Attica. He delayed there so long that Phyllis doubted he would ever return and killed herself. The gods turned her into an almond tree which here the penitent Demophoön is embracing, to find the tree suddenly blossoming and Phyllis reappearing to him.  As so often with Burne-Jones, violent sexual passions — love, betrayal, remorse and forgiveness — are visualised within the context of myth and within an abstract linear design of great sophistication. This greatly enhances the expressive power of the story’s climax."

While Burne-Jones carried on a passionate affair with his greek model Maria Zambaco, his wife Georgiana found solace in the company of family friend William Morris.  It is speculated that they too may have had an affair.

Sex and drugs and paints and easels....

Wow! Imagine my excitement upon discovering that the BBC has a new mini-series on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood called Desperate Romantics (see also here).  I've already ordered the bookfrom Amazon and can't wait till the DVD comes across the pond.

William Kamkwamba, extreme DIYer

Wm Morris was a champion of the handmade.  He was also an influential socialist who fought on behalf of the working classes.   He would embrace this William!  William Kamkwamba of Malawi just published an amazing book about his life called "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind".