The Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and America: Nature, Art and Utopian Dreams
Thursday, October 10th at 3:00 pm
Trail Conference Headquarters
600 Valley Road
Mahwah NJ, 07430
The Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a reaction against both the deterioration of decorative design and the miserable working conditions brought about by the industrial revolution in England with its “dark satanic mills.” Fueled in part by the rediscovery of medieval handcraft during the Gothic Revival in the first half of the 19th century, early advocates stressed a return to Nature as the single inspiration for art, honesty in materials, utility in design, and the elimination of machinery in the workshop. With the writings of English authors A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), John Ruskin (1819-1900) and William Morris (1834-1896) fueling the fire of reform, the Movement gave birth to wonderfully creative designs in architecture and the decorative arts. Art Reform became Social Reform, and the life of craft became the utopian ideal for a new society. The English Movement inspired hundreds of followers in the United States, including Gustav Stickley, Elbert Hubbard, the Greene brothers and Frank Lloyd Wright. Today there is a renewed resonance with the Arts and Crafts Movement as a counterpose to the alienating effects of the modern digital world. Join us in this lecture tracing the history of the Movement, exploring its philosophical ideas for reform, and examining some of its most famous craftsman and architects and their work.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
David Kopp, D. Litt, is an author, teacher and lecturer on the Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts Movement. He is adjunct professor of Arts and Letters at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. He is also actively engaged in architectural preservation as a lecturer and advocate, and is a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the U.S. and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in the U.K. He is a member of the Pugin Society in the U.K. and a director of the William Morris Society in the U.S. David and his wife are members of the Trail Conference and were involved in the preservation and repurposing of the Darlington Schoolhouse, itself a prime example of Arts and Crafts architecture.
