International Arts and Crafts

The Arts and Crafts movement revolutionised attitudes to work and the home and laid the foundations for a radical shift in approach to design and lifestyle in the early twentieth-century. From the pioneering example of William Morris and the writings of John Ruskin, to a new generation of architects, artists, designers and patrons, the movement championed a unity of the arts and was broadly defined by the common aims of social and industrial reform, the revival of handicrafts, a return to the simple life, and the improvement of art for everyday life. It was the first major art movement to focus on the decorative arts but it flung its net much wider, drawing architecture, garden design, photography and graphics into its orbit and changing the way we think about design. Leading scholars in the field explore the varied characteristics of the regional, national and international manifestations of Arts and Crafts, looking at the work of many leading designers of the movement. Additional material on photography, architecture and gardens, and the inclusion of painting and sculpture as integral to the movement, as well as the focus on its later emergence in Japan, all contribute to enlarging our understanding and appreciation of Arts and Crafts.

Lavishly illustrated and extensively researched, this book is a major contribution to a wider understanding of Arts and Crafts and an invaluable visual record of an ever-popular era of design.