Arts and Crafts is a term that is applied to a huge variety of objects, designs and ideas. This short course will begin with a thorough investigation of the work of William Morris, including a study of those who influenced him such as AWN Pugin. We will try to describe the characteristics common to works made under the Arts and Crafts umbrella, and will look at a wide range of those works, including architecture, painting, textile design, furniture design, stained glass, ceramics and metalwork. Arts and Crafts had great influence worldwide. The work studied will range from Morris, his company Morris and Co and the Red House in Bexley Heath, to the furniture maker Ashbee and his Cotswold workshops to the swags and swirls of Art Nouveau and will reach as far as the work of the Greene brothers in Pasadena in California.
Course aim
This short course will introduce the major artists and practitioners who contributed to the architectural and decorative arts style known as the Arts and Crafts Movement in the late 19th and into the 20th centuries.
Do I need any particular skills or experience?
- This course is for beginners and improvers
By the end of the course I should be able to:
- Identify the Red House by Phillip Webb.
- Identify and describe at least one design by William Morris.
- Identify and describe at least one work by Charles Ashbee
- Begin to discuss the characteristics that Arts and Crafts objects have in common.
What else do I need to know?
Nothing else is necessary and all resources will be provided via Canvas. A short but useful introduction is The Arts and Crafts Movement by Elizabeth Cummings and Wendy Kaplan.
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