Even if designer furniture never gets past the “form or function?” debate, it’s pretty to look at.
Saturday, the Art Institute launches its first Arts and Crafts show in three decades: “Apostles of Beauty: Arts and Crafts from Britain to Chicago.” We chatted via e-mail with curator Judith Barter, the Field-McCormick Chair and Curator of American Art. We wanted to know what average, Ikea-going readers could garner from this exhibit, and what — if anything — it had in common with the other big furniture-related to-do this weekend: the 16th annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (SOFA) at Navy Pier.
SOFA prides itself on showcasing mostly modern objects, though there is always a furniture element . This year, a handful of months after celebrated furniture maker Sam Maloof’s passing, SOFA is offering a special exhibit: “The Legacy Continues: Sam Maloof Woodworking.” Comment on some of the Arts and Crafts artists included in “Apostles,” how they might have founded that legacy (if applicable), and how their work transfers to the work that Maloof was doing, and the work that others are continuing to do.
I don’t want to draw too heavy a line between “Apostles of Beauty” and Sam Maloof, but certainly artists in the Arts and Crafts movement believed passionately in the integrity of labor and placed a very high value on hand craftsmanship. The movement has its roots in a revolt against industrialization and mass production. Certainly there are parallels here with Maloof’s commitment to his methods and work.
This is the first Arts and Crafts exhibition at the Art Institute in 30 years. In designing the show, how did you define your starting point? Where does it end?
There were many artists and artisans — such as William Morris in the mid-1800s — who began deliberately looking to Roman Catholicism and the medieval era in response to increasing industrialization in the modern age. This work became the starting point for the exhibition, though the actual name of “Arts and Crafts” wouldn’t be used until the 1880s. The latest objects in the exhibition date from about 1910.
The show’s subtitle indicates that the majority of works will be from Britain and Chicago. Was this a natural geographic progression in the furniture world?
Certainly the movement started in Britain and was picked up across the Atlantic in a number of cities, including New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago. Gustav Stickley (who also published Craftsman magazine) and Elbert Hubbard were in particular great proponents of Arts and Crafts objects. I am interested in showcasing the depth of local collections in Arts and Crafts artifacts, but the exhibition is not intended to follow the movement from Britain to Boston to Chicago, moving east to west. There are definitely more American than British objects in the show.
Do you expect much crossover from folks attending SOFA to folks curious about “Apostles of Beauty”?
We certainly hope SOFA visitors would be interested in seeing the exhibition. The Arts and Crafts movement represents a point in which people were heavily invested in design as a tool for changing the world. I would hope contemporary designers share these aspirations!
What do you hope average folks — people who cannot afford or do not choose to collect rare and expensive furniture — might get out of this show? I’m talking about Ikea-goers — people we’re presuming will look at these pieces purely as works of beauty.
We hope that “average folks” will come to the show and look critically at good design and beautiful objects. The Arts and Crafts designers and artisans believed that beauty belonged in every home, no matter the income level or social status. While they may be in museum collections now, these objects were intended to be used by you and me.
“Apostles of Beauty” opens Saturday at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave., 312-443-3600, artic.edu/aic
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