| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Group leader: | |
| Group email: | Art and Design since 1850 group |
| When: | On Wednesdays 10:00 am-12:00 pm (Fourth Wednesday of every month) |
An Art and Design group has now been resurrected as I have a lot of new material gathered over the last six years influenced by visits to galleries and exhibitions in various countries, as well as visiting a number of buildings.
Why 1850? Although we think of modern Art and Design as originating in the early 20th Century we can trace the roots of both to the middle of the 19th Century. In England it was in Craft and Design led by William Morris and friends including some of the Pre-Raphaelites, who fell out with the Royal Academy. In Paris it was in Fine art when the Realists fell out with the Paris Salon, hotly followed by the Impressionists. Morris and friends were appalled by what they saw at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and wanted to return to the days of craftsmanship and honesty. They condemned ornament for ornament's sake. Their influence spread to other countries.