Arts and Crafts Movement: History and Notable Works

The Arts and Crafts Movement was a nineteenth-century art movement concerned with repopularizing handmade craftsmanship as a way to shrink the gap between design and manufacture. The movement was led by art critic John Ruskin and textile designer William Morris, who saw the mass production and poor working conditions of factories in London as a societal blight. Developed in Victorian England, the movement was a protest against the Industrial Revolution and the turning of man into machine.

Arts and Crafts style was a reaction to industrialization that would have a lasting impact.

• Origins: The Arts and Crafts Movement can be traced back to the work of English architect and leader in the Gothic revival, A.W. Pugin. In his book Contrasts (1836) Pugin compared the faults of the Victorian era to what he considered to be the “noble” Middle Ages. In doing so, Pugin reflected on the importance of truth to material, craftsmanship, and good design, which would later become the rallying call of the arts and crafts movement.
• The Great Exhibition of 1851: John Ruskin and William Morris were similarly vexed by the overly ornate and artificial works they witnessed in the Great Exhibition of 1851 (the first in a series of world’s fairs). The exhibition, held in London, was a celebration of industry and High Victorian art which seemed to the early proponents of the Arts and Crafts Movement to be disconnected from function.
• Morris and Company: In 1861, William Morris founded the company of craftspeople and interior designers that would come to be known as Morris and Company. Inspired by medieval craftsmanship, they produced furniture, textiles, and more.
• Guilds and exhibitions: The 1880s saw the development of several guilds for highly skilled craftspeople, including architect Charles Robert Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft. Around the same time, illustrator Walter Crane became the first president of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Arts and Crafts designers proposed that there was no real difference between handmade books, furniture, and other decorative arts, and so-called “fine art.” These formal guilds and exhibitions helped bring the arts and crafts movement to the mainstream.
• The American arts and crafts movement: The Movement saw a decline in the early early century after World War I, but the ideas of well-made, handcrafted design had already made their mark. In America, the Arts and Crafts Movement manifested itself in the use of local materials and styles. On the West Coast, the use of stone foundations and Spanish mission-style homes became ubiquitous (led by architect brothers Charles and Henry Greene of Pasadena). In New England, architects began to favor the arts-and-crafts-influenced shingle style, which was a departure from what they saw as the over-embellished Eastlake style of Queen Anne architecture. In the Midwest, the Arts and Crafts Movement overlapped with the bungalow style.
• Lasting influence: In Europe, the Arts and Crafts Movement led to the development of Art Nouveau in France, the Secession movement in Austria, and Bauhaus in Germany. In Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School was an attempt at developing a new North American style of architecture that borrowed its design and the craftsman style from the Movement. Crafts design is experiencing a revival as independent retailers and private crafters are seeing their work valued over mass-produced designs.

The Arts and Crafts Movement was characterized by its rejection of the dehumanization of design. Arts and Crafts works have a down-to-earth quality that are more personalized and reflective of their surroundings.

1. 1. Use of local materials: Arts and Crafts architecture was predicated on the idea that design should be easily integrated with its surrounding landscape. Locally sourced stone, wood, and other natural materials became hallmarks of arts and crafts homes.
2. 2. Structural authenticity: As the movement rejects Classical architecture, Arts and Crafts homes are typically made with exposed beams and rafters that extend past the roof line. The emphasis is on practicality rather than ornamentation.
3. 3. Simplicity: The interior design of arts and crafts style homes often features subdued and unadorned furniture and open floor plans. The woodwork is usually kept exposed and the joinery is unobscured. The craftsmanship of Gustav Stickley is an excellent example of Arts and Crafts furniture and is often called Mission style furniture.

The Arts and Crafts Movement reached all corners of the world. Some examples of notable works include:

1. 1. Red House (1860): Red House was the home of William Morris and is considered the first arts and crafts building. Designed by Morris and fellow architect Philip Webb, the house’s steep tile roof resembles a Gothic style, but the home is otherwise unornamented, setting it apart from other Victorian houses. The interior of the home was decorated with murals painted by Edward Burne-Jones.
2. 2. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1896 ed.): Morris & Co. also produced handwritten manuscripts towards the end of the designer’s life. One such edition was Chaucer’s famous tome, The Canterbury Tales. The edition (of which only 425 copies were made) is elaborately decorated and the binding is secured with latches. This edition is also known as the Kelmscott Chaucer as it was made at Morris’s private printing press, the Kelmscott Press.
3. 3. The Gamble House (1909): Designed by the Greene and Greene architectural firm of Charles and Henry Greene, the Gamble House in Southern California is an excellent example of structural authenticity. Its rafters extend beyond the roof and over the eaves so as to expose the joinery of the beams. The wood of the door and window framing is stained but not painted. The stained glass of the front door features a Japanese black pine as a nod to the home’s location in the Pacific Rim.

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