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aesthetics, art, arts and crafts movement, craft, culture, Labour, museums, socialism, William Morris
In the Victorian era, art and the discussion of beauty took on a new role as a “formidable cultural force” (Denisoff 213). This development is evident in the rise of artistic communities such as the aesthetic movement, the Pre-Raphaelites, and the Arts and Crafts movement. William Morris and Ferdinand de Rothschild both expressed opinions on the changing nature of art and its implications for class and culture. In 1882, William Morris discussed what he calls “The Lesser Arts” in a chapter of his lecture series titled Hopes and Fears for Art, advocating a socialist approach to art. Morris thought that people should incorporate art into everyday life, so as to avoid monotony. Ferdinand de Rothschild’s essay “The Expansion of Art,” published in the Fortnightly Review in 1885, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of art becoming less exclusive. Morris and Rothschild argue that making art available to lower classes would be beneficial to society, but Rothschild’s argument is practical while Morris’s is idealistic.
In the section of his essay titled “The Lesser Arts,” William Morris expresses his socialist ideas for spreading art to people of all classes. William Morris was a poet and artist (Leighton and Surridge 252) also part of the Arts and Crafts movement, along with other essayists like John Ruskin (Landow). The members of this movement thought that artisans and craftsmen should be like artists, and regretted that the industrial revolution removed the artistic aspect of every craft and production. Continue reading