On a trip to London
Funding for repairs to the frame of one of Britain’s most evocative pieces of late 19th century art will allow its loan from Kelmscott House in Gloucestershire through the summer of 2020.
Making small grants count
The loan of works of art to special exhibitions is an important way of both focussing attention on an object and sharing its glory with a wider public. One of the grants agreed by the Historic Houses Foundation this Spring is a good example of how the organisation makes a big difference with relatively small sums of money
Loan exhibition
Kelmscott Manor in Gloucestershire is a house full of beautiful things. As home to William Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, it stands testament to many of the ideas that were fundamental to Morris’ view of the world. From July to September 2020, objects from Kelmscott are on loan to the Society of Antiquaries’ headquarters at Burlington House in London’s Piccadilly so that a different audience can explore the essential nature of the house in an exhibition entitled “A House that I Love: William Morris and Kelmscott Manor”. Central to the exhibition is one of the most popular paintings at Kelmscott Manor, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s portrait of Jane Morris entitled “Mrs Morris wearing a Blue Silk Dress”. Transferring fragile objects puts strain on their condition and the Society of Antiquaries applied to the Historic Houses Foundation for help in stabilising the original frame of the work which has minor damages. Thanks to this grant, the painting will travel to London and home again safely while being enjoyed for three months by London audiences.
Testament to a love affair
The painting is central to the exhibition for the role it plays in the story of Kelmscott Manor. Leased jointly in 1871 by William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the atmospheric Tudor house became an inspiration for the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement, bringing both artists closer to nature, the countryside and its traditional rhythms. It also brought Rossetti into daily contact with Jane Morris. “Mrs Morris wearing a Blue Silk Dress” was commissioned by Morris and completed in 1868 shortly before the trio moved in together. It marks the start of the joint complicity of the two men in the affair which was to prove crucial to Rossetti’s development as an artist. Jane Morris herself provided us with perhaps the quintessential face of the Pre-Raphaelite movement with her abundant hair, full lips and dreamy gaze. The luscious quality of the painting is a true love song and, since the artist also designed the frame, its restoration, ahead of its journey to London, has secured a painting that stands at the centre of both the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century.
A House that I Love: William Morris and Kelmscott Manor is open at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BE from 9 July to 21 September 2020.
