9781784740801

Peacock and Vine

Format: Hardcover

ISBN13: 9781784740801

Hardcover|9781784740801


Overview

This ravishing book opens a window onto the lives, designs, and passions of two charismatic artists. Born a generation apart, they were seeming opposites- Mariano Fortuny, a Spanish aristocrat thrilled by the sun-baked cultures of Crete and Knossos; William Morris, a British craftsman, in thrall to the myths of the North. Yet through their revolutionary inventions and textiles, both men inspired a new variety of art, as vibrant today as when it was first conceived. Acclaimed writer A.S. Byatt traces their genius right to the source.

The Palazzo Pesaro Orfei in Venice is a warren of dark spaces leading to a workshop where Fortuny created his designs for pleated silks and shining velvets. Here he worked alongside the French model who became his wife and collaborator, including on the 'Delphos' dress - a flowing gown evoking classical Greece.

Morris's Red House, outside London, with its Gothic turrets and secret gardens, helped inspire his stunning floral and geometric patterns; it also represented a coming together of life and art. But it was Kelmscott Manor in the English countryside that he loved best - even when it became the setting for his wife's love affair with Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Generously illustrated with the artists' beautiful designs - pomegranates and acanthus, peacock and vine - A.S. Byatt brings the visions and ideas of Fortuny and Morris dazzlingly to life.

ISBN-13

9781784740801

ISBN-10

1784740802

Weight

0.93 Pounds

Dimensions

5.79 x 0.79 x 6.81 In

Edition

1st Edition

Format

Hardcover

Language

English

Pages

192 pages

Publisher

Chatto & Windus

Published On

2016-07-07



View All Offers

Sort by:

Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Bonita
★★★★☆

Santa Clarita, CA, USA

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
$43.47

 Free delivery by: 01 Apr 2026


Bookstores.com relies on cookies to improve your experience.