Bucks &amp; Oxon

<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85260" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-River-Rowing-Museum-hanging.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-River-Rowing-Museum-hanging.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-River-Rowing-Museum-hanging-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-River-Rowing-Museum-hanging-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-River-Rowing-Museum-hanging-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
I&#8217;ll admit it now &#8211; I&#8217;m a bit of a William Morris nut. I spent quite a long time caressing curtains in his Cotswolds home, Kelmscott Manor, while Mr M yawned outside in the garden, and I personally loved it when Modern Art Oxford did that fantastic Warhol/Morris art mash up a few years back.
Though William Morris fabrics are more my mother&#8217;s taste than mine, I love their vibrancy and I think that&#8217;s what is also appealing to children in this new exhibition at the <a href="https://www.rrm.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">River &amp; Rowing Museum</a> in Henley.
The downstairs gallery space here is small and is clearly not the only calling card for a museum dedicated to the river, but there&#8217;s been a steady stream of incredible artists over the last few years, including Matisse, Hockney, Barbara Hepworth and the impressive permanent display from John Piper.
Now comes <a href="https://www.rrm.co.uk/whats-on/an-earthly-paradise-william-morris-the-thames/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">An Earthly Paradise</a>, an exploration of the (slightly hopeful?) relationship between Morris&#8217;s work and the Thames &#8211; he had a retreat in Oxfordshire and used to boat and fish locally and let&#8217;s go with it &#8211; a lot of his patterns are kind of ripply and swirly, right?!
The exhibition is a winning combination of personal effects, technical info on his work (looms, woodblocks, dyestuffs), huge fabric samples hung as works of art, and some awesome colour clashing &#8211; I mean, how wacky is this curtain, wallpaper, cushion combo, below?!  The theme continues upstairs but more broadly, looking at how the Victorians used the Thames back in the day.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85253" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Curtain-wallpaper-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1333" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Curtain-wallpaper-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Curtain-wallpaper-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-113x150.jpg 113w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Curtain-wallpaper-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Curtain-wallpaper-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-375x500.jpg 375w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85252" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Books-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1333" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Books-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Books-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-113x150.jpg 113w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Books-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Books-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-375x500.jpg 375w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-85259 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-at-River-Rowing-Museum-wall-art-fabric-e1550776188493.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="655" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-at-River-Rowing-Museum-wall-art-fabric-e1550776188493.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-at-River-Rowing-Museum-wall-art-fabric-e1550776188493-150x98.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-at-River-Rowing-Museum-wall-art-fabric-e1550776188493-300x197.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/William-Morris-at-River-Rowing-Museum-wall-art-fabric-e1550776188493-720x472.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
There are all the family-friendly elements that the River &amp; Rowing Museum does so well on display here &#8211; Victorian hats to try on, a gallery trail for littlies, tables on which kids can create and draw.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85256" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Hats-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Hats-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Hats-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Hats-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Hats-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
This exhibition won&#8217;t trouble you for more than half an hour but I&#8217;m a massive fan of dipping into art/creativity like this &#8211; the kids will learn something, you&#8217;ll grab a bit of adult time, there&#8217;s a lovely bright cafe on site for lunch and then you&#8217;re right on the river, play park and the loveliest bits of Henley for the rest of the day.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85254" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Fabric-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Fabric-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Fabric-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Fabric-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Fabric-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
The exhibition is on until 14 July so you have acres of time in which to see it &#8211; but if you&#8217;re going slightly crazy by this point in the half term, add this to the mix. Make sure you give yourself enough time to plunder the gift shop too &#8211; it&#8217;s gone Morris-tastic and looks fabulous. Go on, dare you to buy your dad one of those ties!
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-85255" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Gift-shop-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Gift-shop-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Gift-shop-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Gift-shop-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/02/Gift-shop-William-Morris-exhibition-River-Rowing-Museum-Henley-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
<a href="https://www.rrm.co.uk/whats-on/an-earthly-paradise-william-morris-the-thames/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">An Earthly Paradise</a>, River &amp; Rowing Museum, Mill Meadows, Henley, Oxfordshire, RG9 1BF. Tel: 01491 415600.

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