Art Workers Guild

English group of artists, designers, architects and craftsmen formed in 1884. In 1883 five young assistants from R. Norman Shaw's office formed the St George's Art Society. The Society discussed its worries about the growing practical and ideological separation of art and architecture, and the indifference to their ideas for reform in architecture, shown by the official institutions such as the Royal Academy and the Royal Institute of British Architects. They soon realized that there was a need for a larger, broader society. In 1884 these same architects

See the Abbreviations for further details.

This select organization was an important discussion forum for the Arts and Crafts in Britain, having been formed from two existing groups, the St George's Art Society (founded in 1883) and The Fifteen (founded in 1880). The former was largely composed of pupils of the architect Norman Shaw, its committee members including W. R. Lethaby; the latter was largely driven by the energy of its secretary, Lewis F. Day. Both societies were concerned with a unification of art, architecture, and the decorative arts and crafts and came together in 1884 to form the Art Workers' Guild. However, differences of opinion about the importance of the role of publicity and mounting public exhibitions led to a split in which some members seceded to form the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1886. Many important figures associated with the arts and crafts were involved with the Guild, including C. R. Ashbee, W. A. S. Benson, Walter Crane, A. H. Mackmurdo, William Morris, and C. F. Voysey.

The Art Workers Guild or Art-Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British architects associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of all the arts', denying the distinction between fine and applied art. It opposed the professionalisation of architecture – which was promoted by the Royal Institute of British Architects at this time – in the belief that this would inhibit design.

The founders of the Guild were five young architects from Norman Shaw's office: W.R. Lethaby, Edward Prior, Ernest Newton, Mervyn Macartney and Gerald C. Horsley. Its first master was the sculptor, George Blackall Simonds.

External links

• "Art Workers Guild". Official website of the Guild. http://www.artworkersguild.org. Retrieved October 17, 2005. 

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