ARTS AND CRAFTS The Early Modernist Movement in American Decorative Arts 1894-1923

Arts and Crafts: The Early Modernist Movement in American Decorative Arts 1894-1923

By Bruce Johnson

House of Collectibles, New York NY

Soft Cover, first edition, 1988, 550 pages, with some color illustrations

The first guide to offer a comprehensive look at the American decorative arts that signaled the end of the Victorian era and the beginning of the modernist movement.  As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the American public began to voice its dissatisfaction with the shoddy workmanship and gaudy excesses of Victorian furnishing manufacturers.  The new century saw the emergence of a new style of American decorative arts—simple, clean, functional, yet artistic—a style that has returned today with all the vigor, enthusiasm, and support that it received in 1905.  This identification and price guide will provide you with the photographs, illustrations, and information you need to appreciate and collect the finest examples of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.

Condition: one remaining copy, with a torn cover and broken binding