Learning to Love William Morris

Re “A dreamer in industrial London,” by Patrick D. Hazard—
    
The Pre-Raphaelites as a group have been given something of a bad rap because their work found favor with the wealthy. In fact the movement began as a revolutionary riposte to “things as they are” in the world of British art. In their desire to take art back to the days before Raphael, they were in fact championing primitivism, not sophistication.
    
Also, the pre-Raphaelite movement’s emphasis on the spiritual dovetailed nicely with a growing sense that the materialism of the times was a road to nowhere. The Pre-Raphaelites were the bohemians of their day, and like all good bohos they were petted to death by their social betters.
Andrew Mangravite
Center City/ Philadelphia
October 18, 2012
    
Patrick Hazard, your essay on William Morris was strong, but if an old colleague of yours and an admirer of Morris can add a note of surprise to your remarks: It took you a hell of a long time to get around to the Morris Museum.
    
Oh, well, keep poking around in our shared cultural and artistic treasures.
Gerald Weales
University City/ Philadelphia
October 17, 2012