The Art That Is Life: The Art & Crafts Movement in America, 1875-1920 (Art That is Life)

This paperback edition is a reissue of the classic book on the American Arts and Crafts movement, one of the most significant and far-reaching movements in American art. It is also one of the least understood. It transformed not only how objects looked but how people looked at objects. It changed American attitudes toward design and the home, and compelled people to think about the relationship of art to everyday life. The results can be seen in such diverse styles as Gothic, Oriental, Aesthetic, Colonial Revival, Native American, Mission, and Art Nouveau. "The Art that is Life" was initially published in conjunction with a 1987 exhibition originated by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the first to synthesize the decorative arts and architecture of this period in America. Works include such objects as furniture, glass, silver, ceramics, textiles, wallpaper, books, and architectural drawings. With eight essays by distinguished scholars and more than 300 illustrations, this book serves not only as a classic reference on American design reform but also as a celebration of the era that so unified the "artful" with the "useful."