Arts and Crafts Movement (redirected from Arts & Crafts Movement)

Arts and Crafts movement

An English room decorated by William Morris in the Arts and Crafts style.

(credit: Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, photograph, John Webb)

English social and aesthetic movement of the second half of the 19th century, dedicated to reestablishing the importance of craftsmanship in an era of mechanization and mass production. The name derives from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society (1888). Inspired by John Ruskin and other writers who deplored the effects of industrialization, William Morris founded a firm of interior designers and manufacturers to produce handcrafted textiles, printed books, wallpaper, furniture, jewelry, and metalwork. The movement was criticized as elitist and impractical in an industrial society, but in the 1890s its appeal widened and spread to other countries, including the U.S. See also Art Nouveau.

---

Arts and Crafts Movement

A group of architects and artisans who emphasized the importance of craftsmanship and high standards in all architectural details; greatly influenced by the outstanding work of William Morris and his company of craftsmen near London. Beginning in the late 19th century and extending into the early 20th century, this movement had a significant impact in America on the Prairie style with its low-pitched roofs and widely overhanging eaves, and on the Craftsman style. In particular, excellent craftsmanship and superior detailing was embraced in the designs of the architects Charles Sumner Greene (1868–1957) and his brother Henry Mather Greene (1870–1954) of Pasadena, California, whose work exemplified architectural details carried to a high art.