The Arts and Crafts Movement Essay

During the 1870s a new category of art formed known as the Aesthetic Movement, which was based upon not what world was around the art, but the art itself (Pohl 284). This movement originated in England and spread throughout the Americas opposing the current views about art during the time the it arose, which was the ideology that art must always serve some sort of clandestine purpose. Artists who supported the Aesthetic Movement also denied any moral values that people gave to art. The painting that I chose that best fits the ideals of aestheticism is In the Studio, 1880 by William Merritt Chase. During the 19th century industrialization rapidly began to change American culture bringing on consumerism and capitalism, which focused on the

-In the 1700’s a new middle class emerged. Mass print became a thing as well. Every day people started to purchase art works to display in their homes. It was a way for them to express their status and national patriotism. The diversity in patrons had a great impact on the arts of the 15th – 18th centuries. With new patrons and the demand for art work, artists were able to capture more than just religious scenes. They were able to create landscapes and everyday life in their work. Artists were commissioned by the new middle class to create art work that they were able to hang in their houses. For instance, artist Joseph Wright of Derby’s painting “A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrey (1765).”

Revivals! Diverse Traditions 1920-1945: The History of Twentieth-Century American Craft is a 1994 publication edited by curator Janet Kardon and scholar/art collector Ralph T. Coe. This book is an anthology of essays that examines several craft aesthetics that revived in the twentieth century. The essays in this book were published as a companion to an exhibition catalogue, after an exhibition of the same name at the American Craft Museum (Museum of Arts and Design) from October 20,1994-February 26,1995. Authored by various craft historians, anthropologists, curators, etc., this book focuses on the craft/folk art traditions of five major ethnic and/or regional styles: Hispanic, Native American, African-American, Appalachian, and Colonial Revival.

The Arts and Crafts Movement started in England during the 19th century evironmental effects from the simple and repetitious designs that were derived from the machine-made products during the industrial revolution. Philosophers of the Arts and Crafts movement determined that designs being created lacked aesthetic value. During that time the dull designs associates to the extensive use of machinery and the loss of the personal human touch.

Between 1877 where William Morris wrote “The Lesser Art”, till 1919 when Walter Gropius came up with his program for artists in training, the world has witnessed not only waves of art movements. But also, one of the most devastating events in the modern history, WWI. However, for one to look at what Arts and Crafts movement have brought to the world of art, and compare it to Bauhaus, would not believe how similar the ideas of both men were. As a result of the industrial revolution, Morris wrote about unifying artists and producers, in hope to fight what he described as “vulgarity” (Gorman, 37). On the other hand, Gropius talked about the need for unifying artists with industry, in order to bring back art which became isolated in the “salons”

Although the Bauhaus abandoned much of the ethos of the old academic tradition of fine art education, it maintained a stress on intellectual and theoretical pursuits, and linked these to an emphasis on practical skills, crafts and techniques that was more reminiscent of the medieval guild system. Fine art and craft were brought together with the goal of problem solving for a modern industrial society. In so doing, the Bauhaus effectively leveled the old hierarchy of the arts, placing crafts on par with fine arts such as sculpture and painting, and paving the way for many of the ideas that have inspired artists in the late 20th century.

The Arts and Crafts movement began around 1880 in Britain and quickly spread across the world, eventually developing into Mingei Japanese Folk art. The movement was built upon growing concern of the effects that industrialisation was having on art and design and the traditional skills that people had learnt through the trade were being replaced by machines.

The many technological advances made during the Victorian Era in England drastically altered the way scientists, artists, and the public viewed art and aesthetics. Aesthetics came to be a branch of philosophy that contained a set of principles concerning nature and appreciation of beauty and art. Due to this change, a European art movement, known as the Aesthetic Movement, occurred in the late nineteenth century. This movement was based on the doctrine that art exists for the sake of its beauty and appreciation alone. Therefore, art did not need to serve any political, educational, or other purpose. It emphasized the importance of aesthetic values over moral and social themes in literature and the arts. The movement started as a reaction to the dominance of scientific thinking and the hostility of the middle class society to judge whether or not art was useful or teaching morals. One of the most prevalent values of the movement was suggestion as opposed to statement because no one could judge or try to reason the creation of any

History is described as the timeline of events that can impact the future. History in turn influences everything around us.  One of the most influential pieces of our history is art.  Art is known as “the expression or application of creative skill that is in visual or physical form such as sculpture that is appreciated for its beauty and emotional power from creating the piece”(Oxford press).Art has different uses and means from different eras and times.  Some eras in history use art for ritual means and practices while other eras use art as a representation of their wealth and use it to underscore their social class in society.  Art is influenced by the point in time in which it was created.  Because of this pre colonial, 1920s, 1940s and

Rebelling and rejecting the industrial age, the Arts & Crafts movement focused on the timeless value of art and design, and handmade craftmanship that reflects thought and care. While machines could mass produce goods, Arts & Crafts aimed to accurately reflect nature and to go against the industrial age. William Morris’ wall paper utilized repetition, symmetry with just the right amount of variety in the five different flowers showcased. It was his view that these hand-crafted pieces would create a backdrop that would ripple into the lives of the people it encountered by enriching it. It was with these thoughts that the social reform movement aspect of Art & Crafts was positioned. By creating these surroundings that were grounded in nature,

Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Pettibone, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Tom Wesselmann and the artists of the sixties Pop Art Movement were inspired by—and made art directly from—consumer goods, mass media, and popular culture. and utilizing commercial mass production techniques, they aim to deflate the pompousness of fine art (in particular the Abstract Expressionism Movement) and celebrate our

By the end of the Victorian age and the 19th century, a new critical movement headed by Oscar Wilde. The Aesthetical movement came as a reaction to prevailing utilitarian Victorian social philosophies. It argues that art and criticism as only cultivating the ennobling sensibility of beauty, therefore, art is superior to life and criticism is superior to art. However, this criticism is so much attacked and criticized.

The initial style of Art Deco emerged in response to the organically inspired Art Nouveau style. ‘Throughout Europe and even in the United States, designers and artists saw Art Nouveau as increasingly out of date due to its focus on nature instead of modern industry and the machine. In France, Art Deco became the new “modem” style which replaced Art Nouveau. Like Art Nouveau, Art Deco objects often consisted of unique pieces of art crafted with expensive materials for wealthy clients’(nelson, p.g 10). During the time between proposed opening of Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1915 to 1925 many artist associated with Art Deco style such as Le Corbusier distanced themselves by embracing the more democratic elements linked with modernism(nelson, p.g 10). . There became a divide between artists and the style’s inability to reach the average consumer due to its use of costly materials(nelson, p.g 10). . Overtime style grew became much more restrained, rejecting running motifs and climbing stems for stylized and geometricized decoration. Characterized by it certain sensuousness of curving forms, lavish employment of luxurious materials and bold combinations of

The Germans such as Josef Hoffman would opt for a more simple and geometric style, which would lead to a large influence in the style of Charles Rennie Macintosh’s designs for Art Nouveau.

This movement was started in Britain about 1880. It gives the importance to the role of the craftsmen. Many ideas of William Morris and John Ruskin was an inspiration for getting back of doing traditional handicrafts which it was a simpler way to improve the design of domestic objects. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which it gives the name to this movement and other organizations such as the Art Workers Guild, worked hard to raise the status of the craftsmen and the decorative objects that were designed at that time. Their main thing was that they want to and were determined to interact with the commercial world and influence the industrial design.