THE ARTS AND CRAFTS

MOVEMENT
(1850-1900)
 BACKGROUND

The rapid pace of industrialization in 19th century

England created a new social order based on
investment in mechanized and trading enterprises.

Factory-made goods from soap to steel were widely

distributed and generally raised the material
standard of living.
 BACKGROUND

Yet there was a downside to this.

For instance, factory towns, surrounded by long rows

of dreary housing for workers grew up in the
Midlands, where there was ample supply of water,
power and coal.

There was also concern about the decline of artistic

standards in manufactured goods because trained
designers were not involved in creating such wares for
mass production.
 BACKGROUND

Two issues - SOCIAL VALUES and the ARTISTIC

QUALITY OF MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS –
were at the heart of the Arts and Crafts Movement,
which flourished from about 1850 to 1900 in Britain
and later in the United States.
 DEFINITION

The ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT sought to

restore the medieval tradition of handicraft in
reaction to the spread of mass production,
originating in late 19th century Great Britain.

"Designs were based on simple forms and natural

materials, as much for purposes of social reform as
for aesthetic reasons.
JOHN RUSKIN
WILLIAM MORRIS
PHILIP WEBB
RICHARD NORMAN SHAW
HERMAN MUTHESIUS
CHARLES FRANCIS ANNESLEY VOYSEY
 JOHN RUSKIN

JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900), a

prolific critic of art and society,
may be regarded as the originator
of Arts and Crafts ideals.

In Ruskin’s view, the Industrial

Revolution was a grievous error
exerting a corrupting influence on
society.
 JOHN RUSKIN

Ruskin avoided technological progress whenever

possible, insisting, for example, on coach transport
rather than traveling on the railways and vigorously
advocating a return to the handicrafts.

He had only contempt for those who hoped to teach

industrial design to students.
 THE ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT

It was a movement that sought to restore the

medieval tradition of handicraft in reaction to the
spread of mass production, originating in late 19th
century Great Britain.

"Designs were based on simple forms and natural

materials, as much for purposes of social reform as
for aesthetic reasons.
WILLIAM MORRIS
(1834-1896)
 WILLIAM MORRIS

Ruskin’s speeches and writings had a tremendous

influence on a younger generation of sensitive men,
who put many of Ruskin’s ideals into practice.

The leader of this activist group was WILLIAM

MORRIS (1834-1896), an Oxford Divinity student
who abandoned Theology and studied both
Architecture and painting after encountering
Ruskin’s writings.
 WILLIAM MORRIS

After his marriage,

Morris could find no
house that met his
standards of design, so he
commissioned his friend,
PHILIP WEBB (1831-
1915) to design what
became known as the
RED HOUSE at
Bexleyheath.
 WILLIAM MORRIS

It was a redbrick structure that harkened back to the

medieval domestic vernacular.

Notable was its straightforward approach to

structure, its undisguised use of materials and its
elaborate use of decorative detail in its interior.
THE RED HOUSE
 WILLIAM MORRIS

Morris established workshops where artist-

craftsmen created wallpaper, textiles, stained glass,
utensils, furniture and carpets using handicraft
techniques.

It was intended to be an alternative to the factory

system, where mass-produced elements were
assembled by workers who were not interested in
their produced goods.
 WILLIAM MORRIS

His concern for the welfare of the working class

extended to his active espousal of Socialism.

Unfortunately, the output of Morris’s workshops was

insufficient to meet the needs of a broad market, and
the price of his well-made objects tended to be
higher than comparable factory-made goods.

Thus, his vision of supplying quality furnishings to

ordinary people was never realized.
RICHARD NORMAN SHAW
 RICHARD NORMAN SHAW

Although he was not a social

revolutionary, Richard Norman
Shaw made significant
contributions to the development of
Arts and Crafts architecture in
England. Pugin’s Gothic Revivalism
impressed him as a youth.

After traveling in Europe, he worked

for Gothicist George Edmund
Street, whom he considered his
mentor.
 RICHARD NORMAN SHAW’S DESIGNS

LEYSWOOD - Its facades of Old

English character are carefully wrapped
around a central court and produce a
silhouette of clustered chimney stacks,
multiple steeply sloping gable roofs,
and a straightforward use of natural
building materials.
RICHARD NORMAN SHAW - LEYSWOOD
 RICHARD NORMAN SHAW’S DESIGNS

NEW ZEALAND CHAMBERS – looks

back to the red brick and stone trim of
the Queen Anne buildings of the early
18th century. Shaw designed it to be
extremely efficient, including 80 small
offices and a suite for the owners.
 RICHARD NORMAN SHAW’S DESIGNS

He composed the façade using tall oriel

windows and lush wood, plaster, and
stone ornament.

Shaw’s work influenced the

development of the Queen Anne and
Shingle style in the United States.
CHARLES FRANCIS
ANNESLEY VOYSEY
 CHARLES FRANCIS ANNESLEY VOYSEY

CHARLES VOYSEY
was the most notable
architect influenced
by the Arts and Crafts
movement in
England. His early
commissions included
wallpaper designs.
 CHARLES FRANCIS ANNESLEY VOYSEY

He seldom used wallpaper or ornament in the

houses he designed, preferring to use white plaster
walls or unfinished oak paneling. Thus he was
considered by others as a pioneer Modernist,
though he did not accept the label.
 CHARLES VOYSEY’S DESIGNS

Voysey’s houses, such as THE ORCHARD in

Chorleywood or GREYFRIARS near
Guilford, Surrey, are informal and
reminiscent of medieval vernacular. They
feature wide, overhanging eaves; steeply
pitched roofs; broad and bold chimneys;
leaded casement windows; and either white-
washed masonry or stone walls.
VOYSEY – THE ORCHARD
THE ORCHARD – GROUND FLOOR PLAN
THE ORCHARD – UPPER FLOOR PLAN
VOYSEY - GREYFRIARS
VOYSEY - GREYFRIARS
 CHARLES VOYSEY’S DESIGNS

Their interiors feature natural-finish

materials, such as slate flooring and
untreated oak paneling; Arts and Crafts
furniture; and the evidence of handcrafting
in both ornamental and functional fittings,
including carpets, pottery, clocks,
candlesticks, hinges, and latches.
THE ORCHARD - BEDROOM
THE ORCHARD – CHILD’S BEDROOM
THE ORCHARD – HALL
 CHARLES VOYSEY’S DESIGNS

Voysey created a bold but simple scheme in

his design for BROADLEYS, a vacation
house on Lake Windermere.

Three bowfront windows extend through

the two stories of the house, interrupting the
roofline, to provide views over the lake to
the west.
VOYSEY - BROADLEYS
 CHARLES VOYSEY’S DESIGNS

The house is constructed of local stone, laid

two feet thick in the walls, and is capped by a
slate roof with a series of iron brackets
supporting the overhanging eaves.

The overall composition is assymetrical yet

dignified.
VOYSEY - BROADLEYS
HERMAN MUTHESIUS
 HERMAN MUTHESIUS

The spirit of Arts and Crafts was carried to

Germany by HERMAN MUTHESIUS, a
representative of the Board of Trade
attached to the German embassy in London
from 1896 to 1903. Germany was
experiencing the same absence of good
design in industrial products that had been
noted earlier in Britain.
 HERMAN MUTHESIUS

Muthesius was assigned to report on the

state of English Architecture, then highly
regarded on the continent.

The result was a three-volume report, THE

ENGLISH HOUSE, which documented all
aspects of Arts and Crafts work, from
architecture to plumbing fixtures.
 HERMAN MUTHESIUS

On his return to Germany, Muthesius was

responsible for selecting notable designers
to teach in schools of arts and crafts.

These men included PETER BEHRENS,

HANS POELZIG, and BRUNO PAUL, who
would later be part in the formation of the
German design school called BAUHAUS.