Sunday 5 August 2012

Now I know you shouldn't believe all you read in the papers, but they did say that London's museums and galleries were deserted ...
Otherwise I wouldn't have chosen a Sunday afternoon to visit the newly-refurbished William Morris Gallery. It was heaving with people and I hadn't realised that it only reopened a couple of days ago.

I wanted to like it more than I did. (Let's face it, you have to be keen to trek all the way to Walthamstow.) Never having been before, I don't know what it was like before the revamp.

It must have been a lovely house in Morris's day. But it is completely devoid of atmosphere and I didn't feel any sense of the man. (Anyway, he only lived there in his youth. It is really William Morris's mother's house.)

It feels more like a William Morris Visitor Centre; you can feel that unsympathetic hand of local authority ownership. (I mean, red bean-bags for seating ... are they useful?Are they beautiful?)

So glad I saw the collection when it was displayed in stunning surroundings last year.

But in future I'd prefer to visit here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such a shame that you were disappointed Mary. Thank you for the links in your post, there is so much to be seen!

mary said...

Well, it made a Sunday afternoon outing, Toffeeapple. I haven't seen any reviews yet so will be interested to see what others make of it.

Darlene said...

The Hammersmith location does look quite inviting. Reminds me of visiting Carlyle's house, definitely a more personal way to learn about a person than a sterile setting.

By the way, thanks for reminding me that I have a very expensive Morris needlepoint kit stuffed in an upstairs closet...unfinished.

mary said...

Sorry to arouse guilty memories, Darlene!