The Arts and Crafts movement was an international artistic movement that originated inBritainbefore spreading to the rest of Europe andAmerica. The height of the movement lasted from around 1880 to 1920, although it still bears a large influence on the worlds of art anddesigntoday.
The Arts and Crafts movement was born from a reaction against the contemporary system of mass production in the industrial era. The members of the movement rejected not only the damaging effects of machine-dominated production, but also the low status that industrialization had given to the decorative arts. The Arts and Crafts movement aimed to break down this hierarchy between the fine and applied arts by reforming methods of production in favor of small-scale workshops and the handmade. From jewelry to furniture to buildings, the artists and designers of the movement placed a new emphasis on the beauty of the functional object, the quality of materials, and preserving the human element of design. They looked to the past for simpler and more efficient methods of production, particularly to the medieval period.
William Morris played an important role in the creation and development of the Arts and Crafts movement, inspiring many decorative artists of the period with both his designs and his values. He believed in the liberation of the working class from the monotonous and repetitive methods of factory production that flourished during the Victorian era. Morris and the other members of the Arts and Crafts movement helped in raising the status of the decorative arts, and this influence is still prevalent today. Join us to find contemporary artists influenced by the values of the Arts and Crafts movement, such as Mireille Guérin and Junior Fritz Jacquet, today!
