Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
Encyclopedia
The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society was formed in London in 1887 to promote the exhibition of decorative arts alongside fine arts. Its exhibitions, held annually at the New Gallery
from 1888–90, and roughly every three years thereafter, were important in the flowering of the British Arts and Crafts Movement
in the decades prior to World War I
.
The illustrator and designer Walter Crane
served as the founding president of the Society for its first three years. Of its goals and purposes, he wrote:
Annual exhibitions were held at the New Gallery in 1888, 1889, and 1890, but the third exhibition failed to match the quality of the first two, and was a financial disaster. William Morris
succeeded Crane as president in 1891., and the Society thereafter chose to reduce the frequency of showings in order to ensure an abundance of materials to display.
The fourth exhibition, held in 1893, was far more successful, and the fifth exhibition of 1896—although clouded by the death of William Morris
on its planned opening day—proved to be its most influential. The 1899 exhibit featured a Morris retrospective. Another successful exhibition was held in 1903, but the Society suffered organizational problems in the new century, with the exhibitions of 1906, 1910, 1912 and 1916 each being held in a different location. Crane died in 1915, and architect and designer Henry Wilson
was president from 1915 to 1922, but the exhibitions never recovered the critical and artistic success of the 1890s.
The Society published Arts and Crafts Essays, an influential collection of essays on the decorative arts by its members, in 1893. Contributors included Morris, Crane, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, Ford Madox Brown
, and May Morris
.
The Society of Designer Craftsmen, successor to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, is still active.
New Gallery (London)
The New Gallery was an art gallery founded at 121 Regent Street W., London, in 1888 by J. Comyns Carr and Charles Edward Hallé. Carr and Hallé had been co-directors of Sir Coutts Lindsay's Grosvenor Gallery, but resigned from that troubled gallery in 1887....
from 1888–90, and roughly every three years thereafter, were important in the flowering of the British Arts and Crafts Movement
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
in the decades prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
The illustrator and designer Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
served as the founding president of the Society for its first three years. Of its goals and purposes, he wrote:
Annual exhibitions were held at the New Gallery in 1888, 1889, and 1890, but the third exhibition failed to match the quality of the first two, and was a financial disaster. William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
succeeded Crane as president in 1891., and the Society thereafter chose to reduce the frequency of showings in order to ensure an abundance of materials to display.
The fourth exhibition, held in 1893, was far more successful, and the fifth exhibition of 1896—although clouded by the death of William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
on its planned opening day—proved to be its most influential. The 1899 exhibit featured a Morris retrospective. Another successful exhibition was held in 1903, but the Society suffered organizational problems in the new century, with the exhibitions of 1906, 1910, 1912 and 1916 each being held in a different location. Crane died in 1915, and architect and designer Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (architect and designer)
Henry Wilson was a British architect, jeweller and designer.-Career:He was born at 91 Red Rock Street in West Derby near Liverpool on 12 March 1864....
was president from 1915 to 1922, but the exhibitions never recovered the critical and artistic success of the 1890s.
The Society published Arts and Crafts Essays, an influential collection of essays on the decorative arts by its members, in 1893. Contributors included Morris, Crane, T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown
Ford Madox Brown was an English painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painting was Work...
, and May Morris
May Morris
Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, socialist, and editor. She was the younger daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer William Morris and his wife and artists' model Jane Morris....
.
The Society of Designer Craftsmen, successor to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, is still active.