Sunday 9 March 2014

The Week in Morris (and more)

The Gardiner Museum (@gardinermuseum, left) here in Toronto celebrated its 30th birthday this week by opening its doors for free and hosting a pile of interesting events. This exquisite, boutique museum, dedicated to ceramics, is a must-see for locals and visitors alike.

The Gardiner is also presenting the exhibition, Ron Thom and the Allied Arts. Ron Thom was one of Canada's greatest architects. WMSC members might remember a very fine lecture on his work a few years ago, and a tour of Massey College, which he designed with strong Arts and Crafts influences. The Gardiner's exhibition is open now and runs til April 27.

~ The ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) has announced Around 1914: Design in a New Age. From March 29 of this year until March 21, 2015, this original exhibit showcases the ROM’s decorative arts collections including works by Jensen, Tiffany, Lloyd Wright, Bugatti, Knox, Dresser and Hoffmann. There will also be a Decorative Arts Symposium, April 10 and 11, which looks unmissable. Check it out here.

~ Just in case you're in the area of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Motawi Tileworks is conducting a tour on March 29. They'll visit tile installations in and around Ann Arbor including the home of owner Nawal Motawi. Here's a sample of what you'll see!

~ Thank you to WMSC member and tweeter @LeraKotsyuba for pointing us to this exciting bit of news of recently discovered Pre-Raphaelite-inspired artwork.

~ The Guardian reported that in May, Sotheby's will be auctioning Rossetti's painting Pandora, 1871 (for which Jane Morris was the model). It is predicted that it will break previous sales records for a Rossetti work.

~ Our friends at the William Morris Society (U.S.) tweeted that Arts and Crafts Tours is leading a three-day architectural exploration of Chicago. This tour was requested by The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms for their members. WMSC members will remember our own fantastic tour there in 2008. There are some elements that we didn't cover and, anyway, it's never too early to revisit some of these remarkable sites.

~ This week, in celebration of World Book Day (and in preparation for this year's William Morris birthday cake) we tweeted this picture of our Art of the Book cake for our symposium a few years ago. Watch this space for a retrospective of past cakes and a reportage of this year's cake!




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