Smash the Bourgeoisie! Victory to the Decorating Business!

 Green Engineering Object (2001)

Big Red Propeller (2001)

Transitional Monument (2004)

Artist David Mabb is described as having a posthumous collaboration with William Morris.  Mabb isn't just inspired by Morris, he incorporates Morris's work into his own.  From the on-line archives of the Victorian and Albert Museum:  "Mabb’s interest in Morris focuses not only on the design of his patterns but also the inherent contradictions between Morris’s political beliefs – he was a campaigning Socialist - and his practice as a designer and business-man – he made his living creating luxury goods that were affordable only by the upper middle-classes."

 Morris/Fruit, Rodchenko/Triple Peaks (2006)

Morris/Honeysuckle, Rodchenko/Hard Currency

  Here Mabb combines the "political philosophies and design practices" of two artists, Morris and Rodchenko, who each produced designs intended to enhance the lives of the working class.  The irony of course is that the machine-made designs of Rodchenko were far more accessible to the working class than the painstakingly hand-printed wallpapers of Morris.

More information on Mabb, and many more examples of his work, can be found on the Leo Kamen Gallery website and on the Contemporary Art Society website (a nice slideshow).  The title of this post is taken from one of Mabb's exhibitions.

12/14:  More photos of Mabb's amazing work can be found here.

William Morris in real life -- "Compton" wallpaper

"Compton" was designed by John Henry Deale for Morris and Co. in 1896, the year of William Morris's death.  Upon Morris's death Deale was appointed Art Director of Morris & Co. 

Ceiling plastered and painted, floors refinished, paint stripped off bricks on fireplace, woodwork given a good cleaning, wallpaper.

"Stonehurst - An America Masterwork"

On the left side you can see the Japanese family crests that are stenciled on the walls of the great room.  Apparently Richardson had done this in his office/study and the Paines liked the look.  I like it too--there are dozens and dozens of designs that you download in traceable pdf format here--future project!

The Egyptian screen that provided obvious inspiration for so many of the carved oak "screens" around the house (that can be seen in different places in all of the above pictures).

 

 William Morris's "Marigold" wallpaper in the master bedroom.  They bought it at the same place I buy my Morris paper, Waltham Wallpaper and Paint.

Check out the wooden toilet.

These few photos just give a taste of this amazing house.  I'd like to thank Jennifer Meader for giving me a lovely in-depth tour of the house and grounds (I shall return when the rhododendrons are blooming!).  Much more information about the house can be found on the Stonehurst website.  The labeled photos were taken off the Stonehurst website.

William Morris meets Adams Family mansion....

Happy Halloween!  I love this wallpaper called Elysian Fields from Flavor Paper......."paradise waits in these immortal fields of bliss."  It is completely in the William Morris style with intertwining flowers and winged creatures (of course WM typically used birds)---here it is bats and carnivorous plants.  I'm trying to think of where I would use this paper---it would have to be a guest bathroom, maybe over dark charcoal beadboard wainscoating.  Plus, at $150 a roll, you'd go broke doing a real size room.   I can't believe the designer Dan Funderburgh was not  thinking about Morris when he designed this paper.  His web site describes his work as "a repudiation of the fabricated schism between art and decoration".  WM would approve.

Flavor Paper also sells another paper they call "Kabloom" that is a copy of J. H. Dearle's famous paper "Seaweed" (1901) in cool modern colorways.   be still my heart.....
 

Morris patterns: Compton, Snakehead, Pomegranate