Brochure (pdf - 853 Kb) [1]Brochure (pdf - 853 Kb)
In the 1830s and 1840s, Victorian design came under the influence of the Gothic Revival style, whose principal champion, Augustus W.N. Pugin, claimed that the quality of a building reflected the quality of the society that built it. In his books, Pugin juxtaposed images of Catholic medieval monasteries with modern Protestant cities and insisted that every architectural element should be essential for its function and should always be constructed and displayed honestly.
During his youth, Morris was more interested in the old churches of Essex and the novels of Walter Scott than in debates on design. This reading was decisive for his vision of a Medieval past replete with chivalry and adventure. But Morris’s intellectual and aesthetic awakening came in Oxford, where he met Edward Coley Burne-Jones. Together they discovered the painting of the Pre-Raphaelites and the writings of John Ruskin, which celebrated the beauty of medieval buildings and the work of the craftsmen who created them. In particular, the chapter ‘The Nature of Gothic’ in The Stones of Venice (1851-1853) opened Morris’s eyes to the creativity and independence of Medieval craftsman as opposed to the impersonal nature of modern mechanised production.
In 1860, Morris and his wife, Jane Burden, moved to Red House in Bexleyheath (London), designed by Philip Speakman Webb. They decorated the interiors with murals, embroideries, furniture, stained glass and tiles. These were designed by Morris and a group of friends, among them Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rosetti, and illustrated Morris’s vision of a Medieval ‘palace of art’. The satisfaction that they derived from this work, together with the difficulties they had in finding commercial products to their liking, encouraged the group to set up their own company of Fine-Art Workmen. Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. was founded in 1861.
The first products sold by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. were embroidered fabrics, hand-painted tiles and stained glass, all of which revealed the partners’ enthusiasm for Medieval art. In the mid-1860s, the firm began producing more commercial articles, especially wallpaper and chintzes. These were more affordable and helped to increase the variety and number of customers.
Morris’s rejection of chemical dyes led him to experiment with natural pigments. These produced subdued but rich and sumptuous colours, which enhanced his simple floral patterns with their organic, rhythmic shapes derived from nature and from medieval ornament.
Morris’s defence of handwork in the face of mechanisation was motivated by both aesthetic and intellectual concerns. He felt that handwork gave pleasure and satisfaction to its maker, while factory work was repetitive and lacked any creative freedom. He was also vehemently opposed to the dehumanisation, exploitation and low wages associated with factory labour.
Morris & Co. –as the firm was called from 1875– grew into a prosperous and well-known decorating company with agents in many parts of Europe and North America. Morris, however, devoted more and more time to politics. In 1881 he became a member of the Social Democratic Federation and worked tirelessly to promote the cause of socialism through his writing, speeches and donations. He gave up his original view that society could be transformed through art, in favour of the idea that art could not flourish until society had first been reformed.
In 1887 he was one of the founder-members of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. His last professional achievement was the Kelmscott Press for which he designed three typefaces and published 52 books with a total of 644 designs. Summing up his career he said ‘If I were asked to say what is the most important production of Art I should answer A beautiful House; and if I were further asked to name the production next in importance, I should answer, A beautiful Book’.
The term ‘Arts and Crafts’ was first used in 1887 to describe the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which organised influential exhibitions between 1886 and 1916. The Movement brought together architects, designers and craftsmen who shared a profound concern for the harmful effects of industrialisation on traditional craftsmanship, rural communities and contemporary society. Many of their convictions were inspired by the ideas of William Morris: especially his emphasis upon the ‘minor arts’ and craftsmanship, and his belief that people’s lives could be improved by adopting simpler lifestyles and well-designed everyday objects made with quality materials.
The Movement was an urban phenomenon sustained by a network of schools, guilds, exhibitions and societies that emerged in London and other major cities, and attracted a large number of cultured and sophisticated patrons and consumers. But it also harboured a profound nostalgia for the countryside and rural traditions. Some of its followers sought a new life in the country and in 1884 the Home Arts and Industries Association was founded to revive traditional crafts and improve the economy of the poorest rural communities.
The Arts and Crafts movement revived the use of traditional materials and skills in airy, light-filled interiors characterised by exposed beams, large fireplaces and wallpaper and textiles featuring colourful plant motifs. Furniture was made from local woods such as oak and pine and incorporated carved or inlaid ornamentation and large metal hinges.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the items produced by the Arts and Crafts movement had become so popular in Great Britain that they could be bought in prestigious shops like Heal & Son or Liberty & Co.
The Arts and Crafts Movement spread outside Great Britain from the 1890s. Foreign designers, manufacturers and retailers visited its exhibitions and many British designers exhibited abroad and sold in shops like Siegfried Bing’s Maison de l’Art Nouveau (Paris) or Sub Rosa (Stockholm), as well as in Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Zurich. The London magazine The Studio published editions in French, German and Spanish and the American magazine The Craftsman reported on the latest developments.
Each country adopted the Movement’s practices differently. While Great Britain set the trend for craft workshops and the revival of traditional techniques, other countries explored different relationships with industry created decorative arts promoting social and political change, or drew on local traditions to establish a distinctive national style.
In the United States, Frank Lloyd Wright opened up interior spaces and included light angular furniture and elements like stained glass. In Germany, workshops focused on the production of everyday objects at an affordable price, combining machine production and handwork. And while the Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage was committed to a socialist ideal of art for the people, the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese workshops) made expensive handmade items for the wealthy, cosmopolitan elite of Vienna and its empire. In Norway and Finland, Viking imagery and motifs taken from the sagas and stories were used, and in Sweden, Carl and Karin Larsson’s house, Ett Hem (A Home) made their own family life the model for a contented and peaceful society. In Spain, Barcelona was the city where the Arts and Crafts Movement made the biggest impact. Casa Amatller in Barcelona was decorated with fabrics by the British designer Harry Napper and on the occasion of the V Exposición Internacional de Bellas Artes e Industrias Artísticas (5th International Exhibition of Fine Arts and Artistic Industries, Barcelona, 1907) the collector Alexandre de Riquer helped what is now the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya to purchase works by British artists and craftsmen.