WILLIAM MORRIS: ARTS and
CRAFTS
The Arts and Crafts movement began from changing cultural conditions in society. It was artist’s response to a deteriorating use of craftsmanship in art and architecture. One of the main founders of the movement, William Morris, was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and libertarian socialist. Morris had a tremendous influence on the Arts and Crafts movement and on that of architects in the early 19th century. As Morris began to form the ideas that structured the Arts and Crafts movement, he found inspiration for his work from writings of John Ruskin and identified with his principals of medieval gothic revival, use organic and natural forms, and his rejection of mechanization, standardization, and division of labor. Based on these ideas, Morris influenced the path of the Arts and Crafts movement that impacted future architects and creative movements.
John Ruskin, an English art
critic developed many ideas pertaining to a rejection of classical architecture
and a push toward medieval gothic revival, historic preservation, and a social
criticism of mechanization and industrialization. Morris, having read his works
was inspired by his critique of the changing socio-economic climate, a reaction
against the impoverished state of the decorative arts. Morris related to his
Ruskin’s idea that machinery was to blame for the disintegrated state of
society and that craft and skilled workers could influence the health of
society. Ruskin associated classical values with modern developments like the
awful consequences of the industrial revolution and standardized production. He
believed the worker, artist, or craftsman was intrinsically linked to the
artwork. Here lies the foundation of the Arts and Crafts movement, opposition
of the division of labor and a preference for craft production. Morris believed
that a society is bound to its workers and that true art comes from the hand of
a craftsman, not that of a machine or factory worker. 
Morris also was inspired by Ruskin’s
love for the medieval style of bold natural forms and strong colors that reveal
the artists relationship between worker, guild, community, and the natural
environment. Such organic forms can be seen in Morris Co.’s creation of
wallpaper, textiles, furniture, and stained glass designs. Bold organic shapes
intertwine to create a 2D image that highlighted the materials.
Morris also agreed with Ruskin’s
arguments against restoration, the belief that ancient buildings need to be
preserved, and that no attempt should be made to erase the history of the arts
and architecture. Morris, while never a practicing architect, loved all the
arts and sought to preserve existing pieces of architecture. In 1877 he founded
the Society for the Protection of Ancient Building that work to save old
buildings, particularly in the gothic style. Morris is also known for his
desire to protect the natural word where he found much of his inspiration. He
sought to fight pollution and industrialism and is seen by some as an early founder
of the green building movement.
Morris’s
influence does not stop with environmental protection. His work and foundations
in the Arts and Crafts movement influenced architecture, painting, sculpture
and the decorative arts to name a few. In architecture, Morris’s styles simplicity inspired
designers like Henrey van de Velde such as Art Nouveau, the Dutch De Stijl
goup, Vienna Secession, and eventually the Bauhaus style. Future architects such as Frank
Lloyd Wright and the Prairie style found its base in the Arts and Crafts
movement, Wright having identified with Morris’s writings used natural
materials, organic forms, hand crafted building elements and even unique
furniture in his designs.
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