ARTS & CRAFTY
 Arts
& Crafty
A major exhibition of the Arts & Crafts movement works has opened this
spring and promises to be one of the cultural highlights of the year
A major exhibition of the Arts & Crafts movement works has opened this
spring and promises to be one of the cultural highlights of the year
The Arts & Crafts Movement was a cultural phenomenon. The ideas behind
it spread far and wide in the late 19th and early 20th century influencing everything
form furniture and textile design to jewellery and print design.
The Victoria & Albert Museum
recently opened a major exhibition, “International
Arts & Crafts” that aims to trace the influence of the Arts &
Crafts Movement as it was expressed in applied design and arts around the world.
Morris Not Minor
One of the great influences on the development of this movement was the work and
philosophy of William
Morris. He had strong links with west London.
For a start, there’s the William
Morris Society of the United Kingdom , based in Hammersmith, a fitting location
for the organisation given Morris’ pioneering work with the Hammersmith
Socialist League and the fact that he founded The
Kelmscott Press in Hammersmith in 1891.
The William Morris Society organises many events and educational activities
annually related to William Morris. So, if you fancy getting a taste of the
his work in west London, why not consider one of these, such as a visit to 7
Hammersmith Terrace.
It’s not surprising that there are many references to the Morris legacy
in Hammersmith, least of all the William
Morris Academy . A fitting tribute that an academy devoted to pursuing excellence,
especially in the arts, is named after him.
George
Frederic Watts the eminent Victorian painter, painted a portrait
of William Morris that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. Like Morris,
Watts and his wife, Mary Seaton Watts, pursued an interest in returning to handmade
craft in the age when industrialisation had come to stay.
No Sleep Before Compton
Mary Seaton Watts was a talented potter who, together with her husband, set
the Compton
Potters’ Arts Guild in the village of Compton in Surrey. Mary worked
exhaustively to establish a top class pottery and a supportive community of
craftspeople in addition to making her own work.
Perhaps her crowning achievement is the Mary
Watts Chapel a magical combination of imagination and craft. Together with
the collection at the Watts
Gallery and the delicious homemade cakes in the teashop, a visit to Compton
is definitely a recommended alternative for those who fancy a bit of Arts &
Crafts without standing in exhibition queues.
William
De Morgan was another great craftsman and, perhaps not surprisingly, was
also an associate of both William Morris and the Watts’. In fact, he actually
helped Mary Seaton Watts install her pottery at Compton. His influential pottery
designs are in many of the best collections of the Arts & Crafts Movement
such as this
collection at Cheltenham
If this demonstrates how people interested in similar ideas and pursuing similar
craft techniques influenced each other, then the V&A exhibition hopes to
show this on an even bigger scale; literally how these ideas and techniques
travelled around the world.
Whether you plan to visit the exhibition or not, if you have an interest in
the Arts
& Crafts Movement then you should definitely take a look at the Victoria
& Albert exhibition website because the “resources” section
contains some excellent links to sites that give extensive information about
this movement and the clearly laid out information on the exhibition shows how
these influences connect.
On the other hand, if this has pricked your interest in making your own arts
and crafts contributions to the world, then why not consider some of these courses
in west London…
In Brent
In Ealing
In Hammersmith
and this...
In Harrow
In Hilllingdon
In Hounslow
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