William Morris to Whistler: Papers and addresses on art and craft and the commonweal

by Walter Crane

WILLIAM MORRIS TO WHISTLER PREFACE OF the collected papers and addresses which form this book, the opening one upon William Morris was composed of an address to the Art Workers Guild, an article which appeared in The Progressive Review, at the instance of Mr. J. A. Hobson, and a longer illustrated article written for The Century Magazine, and now reprinted with the illustrations by permission of Messrs. Charles Scribners Sons, to whom my thanks are due. The Socialist Ideal as a New Inspiration in Art was written for The International Review, when it appeared under the editorship of Dr. Rudolph Broda, as the English edition of Docu ments du Progres. The English Revival in Decorative Art ap peared in the Fortnightly Review and I have to thank Mr. W. L. Courtney for allowing me to seprint it. It has some additions. Notes on Early Italian Gesso Work was written for Messrs. George Newness Magazine of the Fine Arts with the illustrations, and I am obliged to them for leave to use both again. Notes on Colour Embroidery and its Treat ment was written at Mrs. Christies request for PREFACE Embroidery which she edited, and I have Messrs. Pearsalls authority to include it here. The Apotheosis of The Butterfly was a review written for The Evening News, and I thank the editor for letting me print it again. It appears now, however, with a different title, and considerable additions. A Short Survey of the Art of the Century appeared in a journal, the name of which has escaped me, but it has been largely rewritten and added to since. For the rest, Modern Aspects of Life and the Sense of Beauty was originally addressed as the opening of a debate at the Pioneer Club, in which my late friend Lewis F. Daywas my opponent, and my chief supporter was Mr. J, Ramsay Mac donald, M. P. Art and the Commonweal was an address to the Students of Art at Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the paper On Some of the Arts allied to Architecture was given before the Architectural Association. That On the Study and Practice of Art was delivered in Man chester before the Art School Committee and City authorities, and the Notes on Animals in Art to the Art Workers 1 Guild in London. WALTER CRANE, KENSINGTON, September 1911, vi CONTENTS IAGF. WILLIAM MORRIS AND HIS WORK . . . 3 THE ENGLISH REVIVAL IN DECORATIVE ART 47 THE SOCIALIST IDEAL AS A NEW INSPIRA TION IN ART 83 ON THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF ART . . 105 ON SOME OF THE ARTS AND CRAFTS ALLIED TO ARCHITECTURE 125 NOTES ON COLOUR EMBROIDERY AND ITS TREATMENT 149 NOTES ON EARLY ITALIAN GESSO WORK . 163 NOTES ON THE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS IN ART 185 MODERN ASPECTS OF LIFE AND THE SENSE OF BEAUTY 207 A SHORT SURVEY OF THE ART OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, CHIEFLY IN ENGLAND, WITH SOME NOTES ON RE CENT DEVELOPMENTS 223 ART AND THE COMMONWEAL 241 THE APOTHEOSIS OF THE BUTTERFLY . 259 Vll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1 AdE Portrait of William Morris. From a photograph by Emery Walker 2 Pen-Sketch of Morris Speaking from a Wagon in Hyde Park. By Walter Crane . . 15 Design for Wall-paper. The Daisy 18 Design for Wall-paper. Rose Trellis 19 Woollen Hanging. tc The Peacock ........ 22 Design for Silk Hanging 23 Cotton Print. Evenlode . . 25 Kelniscott House. Meeting Room of the Hammersmith Socialist Society 27 Pages from Morriss MS. of Omar Khayyam . 30, 31, 32, 33 Pen Design by Walter Crane . 47, 83 Progressive blackboard practice in Bi-Manual Training from New Methodsin Education by Liberty Tadd 109 Patterns of Roman Mosaic Pavement, from the Baths of Caracalla 129, 130, 131 Patterns in Plain Leading, from The Glaziers Booke . 143 Russian Peasant Embroidery Blouse in Cross Stitch . 151 Cretan Embroidery 153 Embroidered Cover from Bokhara . ., . . . ., 155 Original Design for Embroidered Hanging, by. Walter Crane 157 Examples of Early Italian Gesso Work Victoria and Albert Museum 167-1 81 Egyptian Treatment of Birds. Eighteenth dynasty, Hieroglyphics...

277 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of English children's illustrated literature would exhibit in its developmental stages in the latter 19th century.

His work featured some of the more colorful and detailed beginnings of the child-in-the-garden motifs that would characterize many nursery rhymes and children's stories for decades to come. He was part of the Arts and Crafts movement and produced an array of paintings, illustrations, children's books, ceramic tiles and other decorative arts. Crane is also remembered for his creation of a number of iconic images associated with the international Socialist movement.

Reviews

[Julia Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to begin? Walter Crane probably didn't know that he was writing directly to me. This book contains a beautiful and eloquently written dream in which the world values art, craftsmanship, and labor in everyday life. In this world, every person enjoys public art and quality goods in a society that doesn't commodify "fine" art or exploit human labor for increased consumption and profits. Products are created on site in the back of shop fronts. Detailed murals tell cultural histories in every school. Architecture carefully celebrates national and regional identities. Designers and craftspeople are valued along with doctors and teachers. Fair pay for labor and the rejection of mass-produced industries results in the leisure time needed to enjoy life in a restful and thoughtful way.

Crane touched on so many poignant ideas that still apply today, and his powers of prediction are fascinating to read over a century later. Many of his thoughts about the future of industry turned out to be exactly right. Naysayers might want to write him off as a bleeding heart, but he closes the book beautifully with a segment about how, while the Arts & Crafts Movement didn't change the world on a grand scale, it did (and still can) inspire the world to change.