The Arts & Crafts Movement 1860-1910

Reformist movement against victorian decoration & bad tast
Inspired by John Ruskin, main practitioners were William Morris, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Frank Lloyd Wright.

William Morris 1834-1896, England
architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer
Born in North London
art should be affordable, hand-made
Favoured a return to hand-craftsmanship, raising artisans to the status of artists. 
The Kelmscott Press (pic) 1891, London, 
books are inspired by the incunabula

Charles Rennie Mackintosh 1868-1928, Scottland
architect, designer, and watercolourist. 
Glasgow, the fourth of eleven children
met future wife/artist Margaret MacDonald at the Glasgow School of Art
main exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom.

Frank Lloyd Wright 1867-1959, America
architect, interior designer, writer and educator
born in Richland Center, Wisconsin
promoted organic architecture (exemplified by Fallingwater), 
original and innovative examples of many different building types, including offices, churches, schools, hotels, and museums.

Industrial Revolution

‘Oliver Twist’ video reference

late 18th and early 19th centuries 
technological and economic progress – engines and mechanics
WWI 1914-1918
major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation 
profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions in Britain. 
The changes spread throughout Europe, North America.

Victorian Kitsch
refers to the design style of the time: printed work and objects, house decoration, or furniture from the victorian Era.
Queen Victoria (reigned 1837-1901). 
The Victorian Era marked the height of the British industrial revolution.

John Ruskin 1819-1900, England
art critic, sage writer, and social critic
born in London, he was educated at home, study at King’s College, Christ Church 
industrial revolution has a negative impact on the morality of the society 
promoted good art is defended by the time and effort spent on it
promoted a return to the medieval craftsman
extremely influential in the Victorian era
Rejected mechanisation and standardization in architecture 
Praised the Gothic style for nature and natural forms

Printing Method & the Progress

Lithography Process, Bohemia 1796 (pic) 
invented by Alois Senefelder in Bohemia 
Oil based ink (more durable)
Lithography as a manual process is based on the repulsion of oil and water. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHw5_1Hopsc

Steam Press, Germany 1814 (pic)
invented by German printer Friedrich Koenig 
first to design a non-manpowered press 
(hand press connected to a steam engine)
capable of 1,100 impressions per hour
the first use was for the first edition of The Times in London in 1814

Rotary Press US 1833 (pic)
Invented by Richard M. Hoe (US) 
Applyed ink with a rotative cylinder
Good for printing on continuous rolls of paper
Allowed millions impressions of a page in a single day.

Also, in the middle of the 19th century 
development of Jobbing Presses
Small presses capable of printing small-format pieces such as: 
billheads, letterheads, business cards, and envelopes.

Chromolithography France, 1837
invented by Godefroy Engelmann 
Multi-color printing process, one separate stone for each colour

Linotype Machine, 1883-86

Offset Lithography, 1903
inked image is transferred (or “offset”) from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface
using lithographic process(repulsion of oil and water)
the offset technique employs a flat image carrier
the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers and the non-printing area attracts a water-based film, keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

19th Century and Ealry Innovation in Typography

The Discovery of lithography
Lithography prints from a plane surface and is therefore referred to as planographic printing.

The First Power Presses
After the industrial revolution there were new concepts of tools based on new sources of power 
the first use of a power press marked the beginning of modern printing, characterized by an emphasis on production.
1814 by the Times of London

The Modern Style and the Counterrevolution (pic)
French type founding was dominated by the Didot style during the firs half of the 19th century.

Bell represents the beginning of the modern, worked later for the Glasgow foundry of Alexander Wilson and sons where Scotch Modern was produced.