If I Could But See It

A vivid, full-colour graphic biography of the celebrated 19th-century designer and socialist William Morris ‘An evocative, beautifully drawn biography of William Morris, a man who dared to imagine a future that could be created together rather than imposed by a few. Big ideas, the meaning of art, colourful historical characters — it’s all here’ Joe Sacco, author of Footnotes in Gaza ‘An engaging, riotous rampage through the life of this inspiring artist, crafter and thinker’ Kate Evans, author of Red Rosa ‘Thorkelson’s wonderful lushness of word, picture, colour and design grabs you by the lapels and drops you into 1800s London, wet cobblestones and all, where you hang with one of the most gifted designers in history’ Stan Mack, creator of Stan Mack’s Real Life Funnies ‘These lively pages trace the strands of politics and poetry, practical and visionary, back to their roots in social and economic justice. A web of dreams is rendered with wit and charm by the deft pen of Nick Thorkelson’ Sabrina Jones, comic book artist, writer, editor ‘With his lively drawings, Nick Thorkelson has succeeded in reviving the life and times of William Morris for the contemporary reader’ Ben Katchor, creator of Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer This is the graphic biography of William Morris (1834–1896), the celebrated designer, driven polymath and radical socialist. Acclaimed cartoonist Nick Thorkelson moves through the events of Morris’s life weaving a rich tapestry of the major artistic, social and political questions which animated him. He explores Morris’s politics and art, and how his hatred of class tyranny and love of humanity shaped his poetry, design and relationships. The book brings to life the tension of Morris’s efforts to democratise art while creating pieces for the wealthy, his critique of Britain’s Empire, and his central place in socialist culture and propaganda. Thorkelson’s striking and idiosyncratic drawings chime with the Arts and Crafts movement’s emphasis on the humanising power of the handmade. The book also features fourteen pages of immersive and dazzling illustrations by Sharon Rudahl, pioneer of women’s comics, honouring the literary work for which William Morris was best known during his lifetime. Nick Thorkelson is a cartoonist living in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He is the author and illustrator of Herbert Marcuse: Philosopher of Utopia (2019). He was an editorial cartoonist at The Boston Globe and has created comics and illustrations in support of organisations working on economic justice, peace, public health and industrial safety. He is the co-author and/or illustrator of The Earth Belongs to the People, The Underhanded History of the USA, The Legal Rights of Union Stewards, The Comic Strip of Neoliberalism and Economic Meltdown Funnies, and has contributed to a number of nonfiction comics anthologies. Nick also moonlights as a musician, animator, graphic designer and painter. Up at the League, says a friend, there had been one night a brisk conversational discussion, as to what would happen on the Morrow of the Revolution … As he sat in that vapour-bath of hurried and discontented humanity, a carriage of the underground railway, he, like others, stewed discontentedly … he found himself musing on the subject-matter of discussion: "If I could but see a day of it," he said to himself; "if I could but see it!" This is the graphic biography of William Morris (1834-1896), the celebrated designer, driven polymath and radical socialist. With the telegraphic immediacy of the doodle, Nick Thorkelson's striking and idiosyncratic illustrations chime with the Arts and Crafts movement's emphasis on the humanising power of the handmade. Thorkelson moves through the major events of Morris's life weaving a rich tapestry of the major artistic, social and political questions which animated him. He explores Morris's politics and art, and how his hatred of class tyranny and love of humanity shaped his poetry, design and relationships. He considers the tension of Morris's efforts to democratize art while creating pieces for the wealthy, his critique of Britain's Empire, and his central place in socialist culture and propaganda.

Pages: 128, Paperback, Pluto Press (UK)