The Arts and Crafts movement began in 1860 and lasted through 1910 in reaction to the Victorian style as well as the industrial revolution. The Victorian style was very cluttered and over-done. Arts and Crafts is more about simplicity and wanting everything to be made by craftsmen. The movement began in England with William Morris who was inspired by the writings of Ruskin. He believed the industrial revolution was responsible for, creating ugly environments, poor working conditions, and poorly made furniture. Morris was the inspiration for crafts guilds and he formed his own company, Morris, Marshall, and Faulkner, which concentrated on church design, stained glass, textiles, and furniture. There are a few major characteristics of the Arts and Crafts style: hand made, visible wood joints, based on medieval design, influenced by the Shaker furniture, lots of oak with strong visible grains, simple/honest, heavy, and large exposed hinges. A specific piece of furniture that came out of this movement was the Morris Chair. This chair was a symbol of the Arts and Crafts movement; it was adjustable, could recline, practical, utilitarian, and it came in leather or velvet. This chair was designed by a craftsmen of the time, Phillip Webb, who worked for Morris' company. One of Webb's accomplishments include the Red House; a home built for Morris and his Bride, in which he built the house and everything inside it as well. Another craftsmen from this time period was Edwin Godwin, a designer and writer who had a lighter approach to the movement, utilized void space, and was inspired by the Japanese. Charles Voysey, an English architect, combined Gothic and Japanese details into his designs. His pieces were not as heavy and utilized void space. He was an important figure in the transition from Victorian to 20th century design and even began to bring in a little of the Art Nouveau movement. Gustav Stickley is the man who inspired Arts and Crafts in the United States; his settee and reclining chair are designed in forms that we can still see today. The Arts and Crafts movement in the United States began in California with the Bungalow style. Later in the movement, Charles Rennie Mackintosh helped to bridge gap from Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau. His designs were more artistic and creative. He had simple constructional elements, unusual furniture and details of lighting and metalwork, introduced exaggerated proportions and painted ornamental elements added by his wife. His furniture used simple geometric forms and had extremely high backs. He used violets, silvers, and golds in the painted ornamentation of his pieces. The Glaslow School of Art was the most important building of his career.
Past:
dining room table
Present:
Peer Review:
I read Happy's blog, and I liked how she summarized the period and got all the information across without being too wordy.
I also read Katie L's blog and she also did a very good job of summarizing the period. I liked how she went into detail about the characteristics of the furniture. Her pictures were also very nice.
Extra Credit:
A documentary on the life of William Morris
Part 1 >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIp5C-qToPI
Part 2 >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL3Zu05KVGo
Part 3 >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNjZX0IC1zA
Part 4 >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epm1doE5RJ0
