2. 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.
3. • 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.
4. 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.
8. 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.
10. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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
17. • 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.
19. • 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.
21. • 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).
23. 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.