Burne-Jones Exhibition at Kelmscott Manor

An exhibition of 12 figurative drawings by eminent Pre-Raphaelite and friend of William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98) launched Kelmscott Manor's new exhibition space in the Marigold Room,
 
The exhibition ran from June to October 2012; a loan from the collections of Tate Britain marking the 50th Anniversary of the Society of Antiquaries’ ownership of Kelmscott Manor.
 
Edward Burne-Jones was a life-long friend of William Morris. The two young men originally met as students at Oxford University and formed the second wave of Pre-Raphaelitism under the influence of their older colleague, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. They worked on many artistic projects together such as the murals in the Oxford Union Debating Chamber and design work for Morris’s firm. Burne-Jones visited Morris at Kelmscott Manor, which is thus a particularly appropriate venue for the display of these works.
 
The show presented a diverse range of preparatory drawings for subject pictures including male and female nudes, draped figures and head studies, demonstrating Burne-Jones’s preoccupation with the human form.