The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America: Design for the Modern World 1880-1920

This is an exhibition catalog and ... I actually read it! Most catalogs are useful only for the pictures, but this one is a fascinating read about the emergence of the arts and crafts movement in England in the nineteenth century and its spread to the countries in Europe and the United States. It's organized by country, and focuses on the social context in each one, particularly how each country's artists and commentators modified the original Ruskin/Morris ideas to meet their own needs and respond to the salient issues in their own societies. Very well done, and lots of beautiful pictures of arts and crafts objects, too.

Great color pictures with a variety of influences. Excellent research for Arts and Crafts fans. Articles are well written and informative. well worth the money.

This book accompanied the exhibition that appeared at 3 locations: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Dec. 19, 2004 - Apr. 3. 2005; Delaware Art Museum, June 17, 2005 - Sept. 11, 2005; and The Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 16, 2005 - Jan. 8, 2006.The chapters are 1. "Design for the Modern World" by Wendy Kaplan; 2. United Kingdom: Origins & First Flowering" by Alan Crawford; 3. "Germany: A New Culture of Things" by Ruediger Joppien; 4. "Austria : Idealism or Realism" by Christian Witt-Doerring; 5. "Hungary: Shaping a National Consciousness" by Juliet Kinchin; 6. "Scandinavia: 'Beauty for All'" by Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark; 7. "Belgium & France: Arts, Crafts, & Decorative Arts" by Amy F. Ogata; and 8. "America: The Quest for Democratic Design" by Wendy Kaplan.There are beautiful color illus. on nearly every page. There is a Checklist of the Exhibition, p. 295ff. There is an Index.(My copy is the hardcover, as listed here. Amazon also sells the paperback edition, which has a different ISBN--978-0875871912.)