William Morris and his influence on the English Arts and Crafts Movement - Susannah Matheson My introduction to William Morris was through my work as a junior designer. A client had requested some of his fabrics, and when the book arrived I was amazed. It wasn’t until I was working with the fabrics to create a scheme that I realised that these were in fact historical designs, essentially drawn and created by hand. I was mesmerised by the patterns, colours and feelings of nostalgia as well as modernity. As I grew more aware of the collection I realised that I had in fact been aware of his designs while living in the UK. For me, the patterns, colourways and finishes remind me of the beauty of rural English architecture and landscapes. William
Morris William Morris (a) was a founding and important figure in the English Arts and Crafts Movement. He was born in 1834 at Elm House, Walthamstow, north east of London as Queen Victoria was about to ascend to the throne (1837). Morris went on in his life to become the ‘designer of wallpaper and textile patterns which have remained in production for over a century’. (1) His work in the field of Arts and Crafts ‘inspired an entire generation of designers and architects’. (2) He was also a writer, socialist and associated with the pre-raphaelite brotherhood. He was ‘concerned with decorative honesty and truth to materials had a direct bearing on the principles of what was to be the modern movement’. (3) He ‘transformed the whole status of decorative art, challenging the mass-produced mediocrity of the 19th century and reestablishing the value of handcrafted work’. (4) His designs have stood the test of time, and are still in production and popular today. Morris died in 1896 and in his obituary in the Times of London his doctor noted ‘He died from living. He had lived a life of 10 men’. (5) 150 years later his ideas and designs paved the way for how we live and design today. The V&A (who hold a large collection of his work and still today open the tea rooms he designed (c)) feel ‘there is a tendency to over-estimate the influence he had in this field, at least in his own lifetime. In fact, despite his much repeated belief in 'art for all', his wallpapers, like most of the products of Morris & Co., were hand-made and expensive, and consequently had a relatively limited take-up’. (6) This statement is not only true for Morris and his work, but also the entire Arts and Crafts movement.
On the twenty-first of August, our Wearable History class took a trip to downtown Bowling Green, to visit Mosaic Confinement Studio. The studio had an old-fashioned vibe, and was like a vintage-garment haven. There, we were asked to choose a piece that we thought was vintage, identify the time period it actually came from, and also take some additional notes on the style and the garment’s details. After searching through multiple racks, the first piece I found was a lace blazer. It turned out to only be vintage-inspired, so I went searching again. I came across a few other pieces, but nothing was really jumping out at me. Eventually, I came across a lavender dress that immediately made me think of Julia Roberts in “Mystic Pizza”, and I knew I found my garment.
Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. N.p., 2014. Print.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775-1851, born the son of a London Barber and Wigmaker, is considered one of the greatest European artists of the 19th century. Turner, the English romantic landscape painter, watercolourists and printmaker, was regarded as a controversial and revolutionary figure by his contemporaries despite his training being similar to other artists of the time. His work ‘Walton Bridge’, Oil on Canvas 1806-10, reflects much of his training as a young artists as well as his well-known Romantic style. In this essay I will follow the beginnings of Turners artistic life, showing how his influences, training and opinions surrounding landscape painting have influenced his work ‘Walton Bridge.’ I will further explore how art critics, fellow artists and the wider public of the 19th Century received ‘Walton Bridge’ and his Landscape paintings in general.
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
"John William Waterhouse Biography." Artble: The Home of Passionate Art Lovers. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
Sporre, Dennis J. The Creative Impulse: An Introduction to the Arts. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996. 310-378.
‘Florated madness, liniar hysteria, strange decoratve disease, stylistic free-for-all’, such were the terms its contemporaries used to describe Art Nouveau, the first international design style. Art Nouveau was the rebellion against the entire Victorian sensibility, steeped as it was in the past. The exponents of the style hoped to revolutionize every aspect of design in order to set a standard that would be compatible with the new age. Art Nouveau was a direct descendant of the Arts and Crafts movement and influenced by celtic ornament as well as Japanese woodcut prints, all this resulted in an international style based on decoration.
Stokstad, Marilyn and David Cateforis. Art History. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Trenton: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Swarbrick, John. Robert Adam & his brothers : their lives, work & influence on English architecture decoration and furniture. London : B.T. Batsford ; New York : C. Scribner 1915.
Art is an artefact of the time or place as it is able to tell us about the people and the events that influenced the artists. These influences can be social, economic and cultural which is evident in two works of art from the period of post-WWII boom. These works are Richard Hamilton’s ‘Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?’ and Jasper Johns’ ‘Flag’.
The piece I will be discussing is Eileen Gray’s ‘Villa E1027’. The piece is hugely influential in the architecture and design world. It was one of greys first architectural projects
London: Herbert Press, 2009. Print. The. Rennold Milbank, Caroline. Couture, The Great Designers.
Mr.Lauren had more dreams to fulfill. He chose the name Polo for his line of ties because the sport repsented to him a lifestyle of athletic grace and discreet elegance, an image of men who wore well-tailored, classic clothes and wore them with style. With that image in mind, Mr Lauren established Polo as a separate menswear company in 1968, producing a complete line of men's clothes. Using only the finest fabrications, Mr. Lares's menswear was distinctive, innovative, but always classic and refined. His suits blended the American Ivy League natural shoulder silhouette with the fitted shape and expensive fabrics of the best European custom tailored clothing. His shirts were all cotton, richly patterned and expertly made. This same care was, and still is, applied to every element of...
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Vol 2.13th ed. Boston: Wadsworth/ Cengage Learning, 2010.
Holt, Elizabeth G. From the Classicist to the Impressionists: Art and Architecture in the 19th Century. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1966.