Image: Watts Gallery, Compton
Watts Gallery will present a four-part online lunchtime talk series in September 2026 alongside its exhibition ‘The Art of Wallpaper: Morris & Co.’ The sessions are scheduled for 8, 15, 22 and 29 September, extending the Surrey gallery’s examination of William Morris and the design culture associated with Morris & Co. to an online audience.
The series will explore wallpaper, design history, conservation, craftsmanship and the legacy of Morris & Co., according to the gallery’s September programme. The announcement does not provide titles, speaker names or detailed descriptions for the individual sessions. The talks will take place online rather than at Watts Gallery’s site in Compton.
‘The Art of Wallpaper: Morris & Co.’ is on view at Watts Gallery from 21 May 2026 through 10 January 2027. The exhibition brings together more than 30 original wallpapers from the Morris & Co. archives, allowing visitors to examine the patterns and the hand-printing techniques associated with the firm’s production. It was originally curated by wallpaper and textile historian Mary Schoeser.
The exhibition presents Morris’s work through its relationship to nature, material processes and the Arts and Crafts ethos. Its interpretation also considers Morris’s collaborative practice, the role of May Morris and connections with artists associated with Watts Gallery, including George Frederic Watts, Mary Watts and the De Morgans. A portrait of William Morris painted by G. F. Watts in 1870 is included on loan from the National Portrait Gallery.
The physical exhibition is installed in Watts Gallery’s temporary exhibition space and is included with an all-day admission ticket. Its presentation combines framed wallpapers in glass cases with contextual material on Victorian design, French influence, Japanese wallpapers, the Morris family and firm, and the wider Arts and Crafts movement. Contemporary responses include Freddie Yauner’s two-screen film ‘How Much is Enough?’ and Dr Louise Atkinson’s work ‘Heterotopia’, which brings together May Morris’s ‘Arcadia’ design and Mary Watts’s tree-of-life motifs.
The programme forms part of a wider series of Morris-related activity at Watts Gallery during September. Other listed events include a curator’s tour on 3 September, a Morris-inspired collage workshop led by Kerry Tristram on 12 September, and a two-day gesso-panel course inspired by Mary Watts’s designs on 16 and 23 September. The gallery will also offer free entry during Heritage Open Days on 12, 13, 19 and 20 September. The online talks are scheduled for 8, 15, 22 and 29 September 2026.
