Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1863-1942)

    An advocate of John Ruskin's ideas, believing in a unity between the arts and the craftsman. In 1882 he helped create the Century Guild to help produce more work for arts and crafts designs. He was known for his designs in wallpapers, furniture, metal works, and printed books. In this design "peacock" he utilizes similar images throughout the construction of the design to produce the continuing pattern across this unique design.

Ford Maddox-Brown (1821-1893)

           Ford Maddox-Brown was an English painter of historical subjects. He was mostly known for his distinctively graphic version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Work was his most notable painting. During the 1850’s he and William Morris collaborated on multiple art projects. In 1861 he became a founder, investor in a design company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co, that belonged to William Morris. For this company he designed a series of stained glass windows and created hand-made furniture. By the 1870’s he established himself as one of London’s top painters.

William Morris (1834-1896)

     He was an important member of the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was mostly and best known for the patterns he designed. In particular, his fabrics and wallpapers were most popular. In his artworks, he would apply the values of fine art into commercial design. William Morris was an artist, printer, typographer, designer, bookbinder, craftsman, writer and poet. His belief was that any designer should have all the skills of design. Therefor, he spent a lot of time teaching himself the trades of the art industry. Along with being artistically creative, he also invented the Kelmscott Press. This is a press that published high quality hand bound books.

The Innovator

John Ruskin (1819-1900)

            During this time period, John Ruskin was known for his criticism of art in the arts and crafts movement. Along with being a critic of the arts, he was also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolorist, an important social thinker and a philanthropist. In all of his writings he emphasized the important connections between nature, art and society. He also frequently drew up detailed sketches of nature, including rocks, plants, birds, landscapes and more. He was a huge influence in the later half of the 19^th century, all the way up to WW1. Today, his ideas are seen as having interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft. 

History

         In the later half of the nineteenth century there was a group of artists who rejected the ongoing production of industrialism in civilization. The Industrial Revolution dominated the world as people were finding work in factories and manufacturing industries where the work did not focus so much on craftsmanship but rather hard labor with machine operations. The artists had been set in their ways with only handcrafting their work while incorporating it with art. Many products were influenced by the movement of arts and crafts, from furniture to wallpaper, book covers to tapestry, and from pottery to mosaics. One of the most memorable contributors of this movement was writer poet and artist William Morris (1834-1896). He designed many works and most of his art is still seen today, as he kept his approach natural and genuine to the viewer. Morris admired the medieval period and the art that came from that era, he would try to incorporate into his work in his own way. In the image posted here you can see how Morris utilized nature with design. The plant and vines surround the entire page with its repetitive patterns, and guides the viewer into the maze of the pattern possibly losing them in the process. Its unique and is one of the many patterns Morris made for the arts and crafts period, and is still seen on many products today, more wallpaper and furniture then anything.