A Call to Art

A catalogue accompanying an exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, exploring how beautiful art and radical social ideals intertwined with the work of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Behind the decorative designs and romantic storytelling of British designer and activist William Morris lies a radical vision for the future. Grappling with many of the issues we still face today, William Morris and his circle – including makers and designers such as Kate Faulkner and his daughter May Morris, and Pre-Raphaelites Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal – dared to imagine an alternative, fairer future with art for all.

A Call to Art goes beyond the decorative motifs and medieval love stories, taking the reader deeper into the group’s collective vision, collaborative action and shared belief in the power of art and beauty to bring about positive social change. Still faced with rampant industrialisation and the ongoing destruction of the natural world, can we too look to the past and reimagine a better future?

Bringing together paintings, drawings, textiles, ceramics and more, fresh perspectives are given on one of the world’s most influential thinkers, making this an ideal introduction to the movement and to the Fitzwilliam Museum’s extraordinary collections.