The Arts and Crafts Movement

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The origin of the arts and crafts movement

• The industrial revolution had its critics. Book design and typography declined in quality, and many mass-produced goods were cheap and of poor quality.

• In 1860s and 1870s architects, designers and artists began to pioneer new approaches to design and the decorative arts. The Arts and Crafts Movement began in reaction to the poor quality of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.

• It was a movement born of ideals. It grew out of a concern for the effects of industrialization: on design, on traditional skills and on the lives of ordinary people.

• The Movement took its name from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, founded in 1887, but it encompassed a very wide range of like-minded societies, workshops and manufacturers.

• This was a movement unlike any that had gone before. Its pioneering spirit of reform, and the value it placed on the quality of materials and design, as well as life, shaped the world we live in today.

• It was also a socialist reform movement, which embraced artists, architects, designers, writers, and crafts workers of all types.

• The movement is now recognized as the bridge between traditional Victorian values and the modern movement.

Arts and Crafts Style

• Preserving and emphasizing the natural qualities of the materials used to make objects was one of the most important principles of Arts and Crafts style.

• Simple forms were one of the hallmarks of the Arts and Crafts style. There was no extravagant or superfluous decoration and the actual construction of the object was often exposed.

• Nature was an important source of Arts and Crafts motifs. The patterns used were inspired by the flora and fauna of the British countryside.

• The vernacular, or domestic, traditions of the British countryside provided the main inspiration for the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Writing Desk Washstand

William Morris and Walter CraneThe Story of the Glittering Plain, 1894

Godfrey BlountHanging design, 1896

William Pickering (1795-1876)

• English publisher William Pickering’s book design has treated as a rare art object when the book-design renaissance began.

• Book designs were byproduct of the arts and the crafts movement.

Book of Common Prayer

William Morris (1834-1896)

• William Morris was the central figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement and one of the most important and influential designers in British History.

• William Morris’s small printing company, Kelmcott Press, produced 53 books of superb quality and refinement. Morris inspired book and type designers to work with private presses who were more receptive to experimentation.

• Morris combined his artistic skills with strong political beliefs. A committed conservationist and Socialist, he dedicated his life to the idea that art should improve the lives of ordinary people.

• By the 1880s Morris had become an internationally renowned and commercially successful designer and manufacturer. New guilds and societies began to take up his ideas, presenting for the first time a unified approach among architects, painters, sculptors and designers. In doing so, they brought Arts and Crafts ideals to a wider public.

Kelmscott typeface

John Ruskin (1819-1900)• Ruskin examined the relationship between art, society and labor.• Morris put Ruskin's philosophies into practice, placing great value on

work, the joy of craftsmanship and the natural beauty of materials.• Two of his most influential works, The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849)

and The Stones of Venice (1851-53, a trilogy), addressed the subjects of nature, art, society, and skilled craftsmanship, and attacked division of labor (industrialized workforce specialization) and industrial capitalism. Such topics are truly close to the heart of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Britain (1880-1914)• The Arts and Crafts Movement flourished in large cities such as London,

Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. • Exhibition societies, initially in London and subsequently throughout

Britain, gave the movement its name, public identity and a forum for discussion. Progressive new art schools, such as the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, emphasized handwork and craftsmanship.

• According to C.R. Ashbee, one of the leading figures of the movement, 'the proper place for the Arts and Crafts is in the country'.

• The movement endured far longer in the countryside than in the city and its impact on rural areas was significant and far-reaching

• America (1890-1916)• The movement flourished on the East Coast, in the Midwest and in

California, and included major figures such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Henry Greene, and Gustav Stickley.

• Despite its European origins, the movement acquired a particularly American form and expression that reflected the confidence of the relatively young nation.

• Exchanges of ideas between Britain and America were frequent and visible. The work of Ruskin, Morris, Ashbee and Baillie Scott was well known and had a significant influence.

• But American Arts and Crafts designers took a much more commercial approach to Arts and Crafts, but maintained a strong sense of individuality and national identity in their work.

• Europe (1890-1914)• Across Europe, the Arts and Crafts Movement saw a revival of traditional

techniques and materials and the creation of new forms that were both ageless and innovative.

• Arts and Crafts ideals developed in a number of regions, including Russia, Scandinavia, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

• However, the British model was thought to be too anti-industrial in spirit. In Germany it was legitimate to use technology as a means of achieving efficient production, so long as quality was maintained in the end product. In retrospect, the German interpretation of Arts and Crafts proved to be one of the most long-lasting and influential.

• Japan (1926-1945)• The Mingei (Folk Crafts) movement in Japan was led by the philosopher

and critic Yanagi Sōetsu and officially established in 1926.• It was equivalent to, and very largely inspired by, the Arts and Crafts

Movement in Britain and Europe. • Mingei philosophy recognised this international and urban dimension, but

at the same time asserted a new sense of Japanese national identity.• One of the most significant achievements of the Mingei movement was

the establishment of a revolutionary new style of middle-class living. • The first and most important Mingei building designed by Yanagi Sōetsu

and his companions was the Mikunisō (Mikuni Villa).

My opinion

For me, the arts and crafts was one of the most great movement in the history. I liked the idea of designer and manufacturer’s combined work. Not like the Victorian era which design was the most important part, arts and crafts focus on both design and skill. The main reason why I chose this movement is probably my future works could be inspired by arts and crafts movement. Right now, my design interest is mainly focused on mandala what means spiritual and ritual symbol in Indian religions, representing the universe (picture on next page). I would like to fabricate mandala design on something. Now I only know how to design them. So I think of further studying some skills.

Mandala