Book bits

Arts and crafts, three books about China, and readers' picks.

from the May 8, 2007 edition

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The Arts and Crafts Movement, by Rosalind P. Blakesley

Just before the turn of the 20th century, the Arts and Crafts movement took root in England, primarily in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Its intent was to counteract the dehumanizing effects of the modern workplace by encouraging the artisan and craftsman to rediscover the joy in their life's work. Aghast at the mind-numbing effects that mechanization and rote repetition were having on the English worker ("men are grown mechanical in head and heart"), the leaders of the movement sought to elevate the craftsman's work environment to a position of pride and professional joy.

In this revolutionary view, the work of craftsmen was valued as highly as that of architects, painters, and sculptors. All were encouraged to join together to create homes and goods for the burgeoning middle class that would combine beauty, functionality, and humanity.

The 250 photos and illustrations in this book beautifully trace the gradual disappearance of the unimaginative gothic ornamentation of the Victorian age in the face of a new sense of the "commonplace" – indigenous flora and fauna, local stone, unpolished metals and rough timber – as the embodiment of a higher standard of beauty.

The inspirational leader of the movement, John Ruskin, wrote in 1849 that "All noble ornamentation is the expression of man's delight in God's work." Every aspect of the home – the structure itself, the rugs, drapes, tableware, doorlatches, art on the walls, and landscaping – became elements of gesamkunstwerk, a "total work of art."

Blakesley, a fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, tracks the Arts and Crafts movement from its infancy as a purely aesthetic concern to its maturation as a force battling workplace exploitation. As the movement spread throughout Europe, Russia, and finally the United States, each country's artists and craftsmen mined honesty and beauty from its native vernacular, interpreted in multifarious forms. This handsome book transports us to that historic confluence of head, hand, and art.
– John Kehe

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