莫里斯(1834～1896年)

Morris, William

英国画家、美术设计家、手工艺人、诗人和社会主义改革家，也是「艺术和手工艺运动」的创立者。出身富裕家庭，曾在牛津大学学习中世纪建筑。曾当过一名建筑师的学徒，但後来的欧洲之旅使他转向绘画。1861年他和但丁.加布里耶尔.罗塞蒂、柏恩－琼斯、布朗等一起成立了以中世纪行会为基础的艺术家联合会莫里斯－马歇尔－福克纳公司，生产家具、织锦、彩色玻璃、织品、地毯，最有名的是墙纸图案。1891年莫里斯成立了凯尔姆斯科特出版社，之後的七年里出版了五十三部书，共六十六卷，其中《乔叟作品集》是这些书里最着名的代表。莫里斯试图为大众生产美术作品，但是只有富人才买得起这些昂贵的手工制品。莫里斯也是空想社会主义家，为英国社会主义的发展作了许多工作。1884年莫里斯成立社会主义者同盟。1877年成立世界上最早的保护组织之一「保护古建筑协会」。莫里斯还写了几卷诗歌和浪漫主义叙事诗，以及四卷史诗《沃尔松族的西古尔德》（1876）。其作品和创作改革了维多利亚时期的品味，他也是19世纪英国最伟大的文化巨匠之一。

English version：

1834～1896年

Morris, William

British painter, designer, craftsman, poet, and social reformer, founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Born into a wealthy family, he studied medieval architecture at Oxford. He was apprenticed to an architect, but visits to Europe turned him toward painting. In 1861, with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Ford Madox Brown, and others, he founded Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., an association of “fine art workmen” based on the medieval guild. They produced furniture, tapestry, stained glass, fabrics, carpets, and most notably wallpaper designs. In 1891 Morris founded the Kelmscott Press, and over the next seven years produced 53 titles in 66 volumes; its Works of Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the greatest examples of the art of the printed book. Though he sought to produce fine art objects for the masses, only the rich could afford his expensive handmade products. A utopian socialist, he did much to develop British socialism; in 1884 he formed the Socialist League. In 1877 he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, one of the world's first preservationist groups. He wrote several volumes of poetry and many prose romances, as well as the four-volume epic Sigurd the Volsung (1876). His works and writings revolutionized Victorian taste, and he ranks as one of the largest cultural figures of 19th-century Britain.