Arts and Crafts movement

Considered one of the most far reaching movements of modern times, the Arts and Crafts movement was a reaction to industrialization and the negative effect this was having on traditional crafts, skills and the lives of ordinary people. The movement was shaped by the principle to protect and raise the status of decorative arts and individual craftsmen and women. The bookbinder and printer, Thomas James Cobden-Sanderson, suggested the name after the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1888. The movement would spread across Europe to America and to Japan in 1920. William Morris advocated the improvement in design of everyday, domestic objects. In London, work could find commercial success at Morris & Co and Liberty. Birmingham and Manchester were also epicenters, with Charles Rennie Mackintosh realizing the principles of the movement in the architecture and interiors of Glasgow. The return to a simpler, rural life also encouraged many to leave cities and set up workshops that would become a defining feature of the movement and have a continuing impact on communities outside cities.