The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement

One day in 1853, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones were walking down a street in Oxford and were instantly captivated by a painting in a shop window - The Return of the Dove to the Ark by John Everett Millais.

This was a turning point in the lives of the two young men. They had both been destined for the Church but, instead, Morris decided to become an architect and Burne-Jones a painter.

It wasn't, however, quite the Damascene conversion that it appears because both men had been interested in the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood before they saw the painting by one of its leading lights.

Ever since the mid-1700s, there had been intermittent interest in the Medieval Gothic style which reached its heights with the Brotherhood.

They scorned contemporary art, seeing it as stylised and soulless, and looked back to the Medieval period for inspiration with work characterised by dreamy romanticism and meticulous detail.

John Ruskin was the philosopher behind the Brotherhood and the later Arts and Crafts Movement.

He believed that making objects by machine had a dehumanising effect on the worker by removing him from the artistic process and even from nature itself.

Brotherhood of artists

The Arts and Crafts Movement

If Ruskin provided the intellectual inspiration, eventually it was Morris who became the leading light of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Perhaps it began while Morris was working as an articled clerk to Gothic Revival architect, George Edmund Street, who believed that an architect should influence all aspects of a building including the interior decoration and textiles.

There Morris met Phillip Webb, a senior articled clerk, who was destined to become a close friend and collaborator.

By this time they were involved with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood started by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais whose painting had produced such a change of direction for Morris and his friend.

In 1856, Street moved his practice to London where Morris shared rooms with Edward Burne-Jones. Unable to buy furniture they liked, the two young men designed their own. This was made by a local carpenter and would have looked at home in any Medieval castle.

The chairs had scenes on them painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti while Philip Webb designed a wardrobe which was painted by Burne-Jones and can now be seen in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

Another piece, now in the V&A, and perhaps the most famous, is a long settle (wooden bench) with a dresser above, painted by both Rossetti and Burne-Jones.

William Morris undertook his first and only attempt at embroidery for these rooms.

Now known as the If I Can embroidered wall-hanging, it illustrates his philosophy of design. He believed that a designer should understand the practicalities of transferring a design from the drawing board to finished object, the better to support those making it.

The Arts and Crafts Movement

The Red House

In 1857, Rossetti organised a group of young artists, including Morris, to decorate the Oxford Union debating hall.

The men were not paid a fee, just given expenses, and the work was carried out in a spirit of camaraderie; something that was to become a keynote of many future ventures undertaken by William Morris.

Whilst working on the project, Morris met the model Jane Burden and they married in 1859. Philip Webb designed their first home, the innovative Red House in Kent.

As might be expected from members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, there was a strong Medieval influence and the furniture and decoration was designed either by Morris or his friends.

Although his friends contributed designs, Morris, in collaboration with Burne-Jones, designed the stained glass and also created the patterns for the embroidered wall-hangings, amongst others.

This collaboration led directly to the formation of the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co. in 1861.

It was a co-operative and aimed to produce all kinds of decorative objects needed for a home including stained glass, embroideries, hand-painted tiles, furniture and wallpaper.

Morris' company could be said to mark the start of the Arts and Crafts movement which created attractive designs for the whole home, not just one particular aspect of it.

Rivals in love    The Arts and Crafts Movement  

The Arts and Crafts Movement

Although the friends won numerous awards for their work, they were not businessmen; the company lost money and had to be subsidised by Morris.

In 1871, Morris moved into his final and best-loved home, Kelmscott Manor in Gloucestershire, where visitors can see some of the best examples of his work.

By 1875, the co-operative was restructured and became Morris & Co. While some members were contributing little as their own careers became successful, others were bitter about the co-operative's closure.

One of these was Rossetti but he had been having an affair lasting some years with his model, Morris' wife, Jane, so perhaps this was the real cause of acrimony between the two men.

Morris & Co ran on much more commercial lines with a showroom in Central London and, later, extensive works at Merton Abbey in South London.

It was during this period that William Morris produced some of his most famous designs including chintzes, wallpapers and woven textiles.

A lifelong socialist, he wanted to bring beautiful handmade objects into all homes but his insistence on using costly traditional methods meant that only the wealthy could afford his products.

The Arts and Crafts Movement

In spite of this, William Morris can be seen as the founding father of the Arts and Crafts Movement and a profound influence on design ever since.