The Exhibition

Britain 1880 - 1914

In Britain, the Arts and Crafts Movement flourished from about 1880. At its heart lay a concern for the role of the craftsman. Inspired by the ideas of John Ruskin and William Morris, it advocated a revival of traditional handicrafts, a return to a simpler way of life and an improvement in the design of ordinary domestic objects.

The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which gave the movement its name, and other organizations such as the Art Workers Guild, worked to raise the status of the decorative arts and of the individual craftsman. They were also determined to interact with the commercial world and influence industrial design.

There was both a sophisticated urban dimension and a radical rural expression to the Arts and Crafts Movement. It evolved and flourished in the city, but the strong pull of the countryside and the simple life that it promised led many to leave the city and establish new ways of living and working. The British Arts and Crafts model of workshop practice and individual creativity was to have a worldwide impact.