Britain in the mid-19th century was undergoing rapid modernization as a result of the Industrial Revolution, causing concerns over material fulfillment pursued at the cost of spiritual richness.

It was at such a time that the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was formed by a group of artists who, inspired by John Ruskin’s view of the Middle Ages as a time when day-to-day labor was a source of creative joy, sought to revolutionize the arts. Initial members included William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and John Everett Millais. The eclecticism of what the Pre-Raphaelites embraced, which included both true-to-life representation and mythical subject matter, served to attract to the group talented creative minds such as Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, who is often regarded as one of the fathers of modern design. Contact with the Pre-Raphaelites and their preoccupation with integrating the fine and decorative arts encouraged Morris’s penchant for the medieval to develop into the idea of fusing art and living, paving the way for the Arts and Crafts movement that would follow.

This exhibition, which presented works created by artists and designers associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, was the first in Japan to explore the causal relationship between the Pre-Raphaelites and the work of William Morris.

Exhibits :

• More than 148 works (oils, watercolours, drawings, furnitures, etc.)

Catalogue texts :

• John Christian
• Peter Cormack

Lender :

• William Morris Gallery
• London Borough of Waltham Forest, etc.

<image> Designed by Edward Coley Burne-Jones(1833-1898)
Floral ground designed by John Henry Dearle( 1860-1932)
Morris & Co.
The Adoration of the Magi
Designed 1887, woven 1900-02
High-warp tapestory in wool and silk, 251.2 x 372.5 cm
Morgan Thomas Bequest Fund 1917,
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide