History of interior design_02032016_Arts&Craft_Kim White

Arts & Craft - Kim White

Morris, William - 1834-1896

Morris was the founder and leader of the international movement Arts and Craft. The group's main goal was to create art and craft modeled after the medieval era, and restore the cultural relationship between art and life, which was separated after the Industrial Revolution.

According to this approach, art and craftsmanship are equal.

Its main purpose is to stand as a united group against the low level of industrial design, to protect the designer, the status and rights and maintain high standards of quality and form.

In addition, the social structure of medieval era creates a relationship of respect for artisans and artists.

Morris has two main goals. The first was that the artists are more important than the machine and they work better. The second was to create products at an affordable price. However, I found out contradictions between his believes and his art. First of all his work is manual, therefore it's very expansive This is opposed his ambition to create products at an affordable price. Secondly, he gathered around himself a group of artists involved in designing products like  tiles, wall hangings, upholstery and carpets. He created a work that required multiple manpower and even then, not all of his workers were designers.

Finally, some of his models were produced by the machine, which definitely contradicts the essence of his believes.

William Morris has influenced generations of writers, architects, designers and artists after his death.

Victoria and Albert Museum in London is currently marketing products with colorful graphic patterns known as the "William Morris style". But, sadly, these days his content of the lectures he delivered, his published articles and his books are less known.