Image: Watts Gallery, Down Lane
Watts Gallery is presenting a major exhibition devoted to William Morris, bringing more than 30 original wallpapers from the archives of Morris & Co. into a display focused on the designer’s methods, motifs and lasting influence. ‘The Art of Wallpaper: Morris & Co.’ runs from 21 May 2026 to 10 January 2027 in the gallery’s temporary exhibition space.
The exhibition is framed as a close look at Morris as one of Britain’s most influential designers, with an emphasis on the craftsmanship behind his best-known patterns. Watts Gallery says visitors can see framed wallpapers in glass cases and get close to original examples while learning about hand-printing techniques that shaped the work of Morris & Co. The show was originally curated by wallpaper and textile historian Mary Schoeser.
According to the gallery, the exhibition traces the stories behind the patterns through studies of flora and fauna, the hand-printing processes associated with the Arts and Crafts ethos, and the collaborative practice that helped define Morris’s output. It also presents Morris’s commitment to nature, process and integrity as central to his design thinking, and links those ideas to the broader Arts and Crafts movement that he helped build.
Watts Gallery is also using the exhibition to explore connections between Morris and the artistic circle associated with the site, including George Frederic Watts, Mary Watts and the De Morgans. One highlighted work is the portrait of William Morris (1870) by G F Watts, generously loaned from the National Portrait Gallery. The gallery describes the display as revealing both the historical reach of Morris’s designs and their continued influence on modern interiors and taste.
The exhibition’s presentation includes new and related elements. Before entering the first room, visitors encounter ‘How Much is Enough?’, a two-screen film by artist Freddie Yauner that imagines a conversation between William Morris and George Frederic Watts. In the third room, the gallery has included ‘Heterotopia’, a piece by Dr Louise Atkinson that combines May Morris’s ‘Arcadia’ design with Mary Watts’s tree of life motifs.
A curator’s tour is also scheduled as part of the exhibition’s programme. ‘The Art of Wallpaper: curator’s tour’ takes place on the first Thursday of each month, with dates listed as 2 July, 6 August, 3 September, 1 October, 5 November, 3 December 2026 and 7 January 2027. The 45-minute tour is timed from 12.30 to 1.15pm and is free with admission.
The exhibition is loaned by the Sanderson Design Group Archive, London, and organised by Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh. Watts Gallery lists the show as included with an all-day admission ticket, with a summer savings price of £15.75 when booked online and £17.33 in person. Children under 16 go free.
