The arts and crafts movement, here and abroad

Magazine Antiques, May, 2005 by Allison Eckardt Ledes

The arts and crafts movement evolved in England around the turn of the twentieth century as a philosophical reaction to the dehumanizing aspects of the industrial revolution and mass production. In the hands of gifted architects and designers the ideas behind the movement took tangible form in innovative architecture and fine and decorative arts. But at the outset the leaders of the movement had to grapple with some basic contradictions. The machine, for example, was applauded for alleviating the boredom of repetitive tasks and for bringing well-designed goods into the hands of the masses at affordable prices, but the machine denied the craftsman the sense of fulfillment achieved by making things by hand, although handmade objects were too expensive for middle- and lower-class consumers.

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A large traveling exhibition on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum in Wisconsin from May 19 to September 5 examines how architects, designers, and craftsmen working in various European countries and in the United States adopted the philosophical tenets of the arts and crafts movement but produced objects modified by the prevailing economic, social, cultural, and political conditions, and the artistic heritage of each country. The show is entitled The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1880-1920: Design for the Modern World and features more than three hundred objects, including furniture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and works on paper. The show was organized by Wendy Kaplan of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it was on view this winter.

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In England William Morris was the leading figure responsible for shaping the arts and crafts movement through his numerous writings and lectures. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society was founded in London in 1887 with the goal of elevating the decorative arts to the level of the fine arts. Morris's high regard for the principles behind the medieval guild system and his admiration for the objects made by craftsmen of each guild justified circumventing the machine and championing beautiful handmade objects in a wide variety of mediums.

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The Art Workers' Guild, comprised of painters, sculptors, architects, designers, and craftsmen, was founded in 1884, and its motto "Art is Unity" encapsulated the ideal of creating a total work of art in which all aspects of an interior and its furnishings were created with a uniform aesthetic.

The arts and crafts movement as it evolved in Great Britain enjoyed an international reputation, and its influence spread throughout Europe and the United States, largely through the publications, lectures, and exhibitions the English presented and the commissions they undertook in foreign countries. In these various locales the philosophy behind the movement was for the most part upheld, but the objects produced reflected the diverse needs of consumers and the aesthetic priorities of the craftsmen in each nation. Austria, for example, still had an agrarian economy, and hand-craftsmanship, under a rigid guild structure, had not yet been supplanted by the machine.

The book that accompanies this exhibition explains how the movement evolved in England, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Scandinavia, Belgium, France, and the United States. The contributors are Wendy Kaplan, Alan Crawford, Rudiger Joppien, Juilet Kinchin, Amy F. Ogata, Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark, and Christian Witt-Dorring. It is published by Thames and Hudson and is available by telephoning 800-247-9955.