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The Arts & Craft movement
© Courtesy of The Lakeland Arts Trust.
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The Arts and Crafts movement (c. 1870-1920) was made up of British architects, artists and designers who were keen to abandon the cheap, mass-produced furniture and architecture of mid-19th Century Europe. Influenced by the writings of John Ruskin (1819-1900) and the art of William Morris (1834-96), they encouraged the revival of traditional techniques and hand-craft production.
During his research for the novel, The Stones of Venice (1851-53), Ruskin was struck by the working conditions of the craftsmen who constructed the buildings in medieval Europe. He believed that their self-employed status was much more favourable to the slave-like conditions in the industrial factories of Europe where only the owners profited from the artisans' talent. Morris was also influenced by socialist ideals. He held strong beliefs about the morality of design, including the idea that beauty should be integrated with the accessories of daily life. Morris wrote in Hopes and Fears for Art (1882), "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".
© Copyright: Courtesy of The Lakeland Arts Trust.
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The art and architectural style of the movement was characterised by a strong feeling for nature and stylised two-dimensional forms. The movement believed in being true to materials. Morris, for example, tried to reintroduce traditional vegetable dyes such as indigo which had been superceded by synthetic dyes.
Despite the movement's influence and popularity it did not make as great an impact as had been hoped. Its founders had hoped to make handmade products available to all but production methods and material costs pushed the price beyond the reach of the masses. The ideas, products and writings behind the movement did go on to enhance the concept of the house as a 'total work of art' but it's costs meant it was only turned into reality for the privileged few.
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