art beauty of earth 00 morr rich

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Ny,iz, ARTANDTHEBEAUTYOFTHE,, ^ EARTH. BYWILLIAM MORRIS.


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LIBRJ^RYUniversity of California.

Class

University of California Berkeley

)Pris (William) Art and the Bbauty oi ., Ay


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Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2007 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation


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ARTANDTHE BEAUTYOFTHEEARTH. BYWILLIAM MORRIS.

OF THEUNIVERSITYOF


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OF /ARTAND THE BEAUTY OF THEEARTH. A LECTURE DELIVEREDBYWILLIAM MORRISAT BURSLEMTOWN HALL ON OCTOBER 13, 1881.WE arc here in the midst ofa population busiedabout a craft which may be calleci the miost anci^ent in the world, a craft which I look upon withthe greatest interest, as I well may, since, exceptperhaps the noble craft ofhousexbuilding,it is se-^cond to none other* And in the midst of this in^dustrious population, engaged in making goodsofsuchimportanceto ourhouseholds, Iam speaksing to a School ofArt, one ofthe bodies that werefounded all overthe countryat atimewhen it wasfelt there was something wrong as between thetwo elementsthatgo to makeanythingwhich canbe correctly described as a work of industrial art,namely the utilitarian and the artistic elements*I hope nothing I maysayto-night will make youthink that I under^value the importance oftheseplaces of instruction ; on the contrary, I believethem to be necessaryto us, unless we arepreparedto give up all attempt to unitethesetwo elementsofuse and beauty*Now, though no man can be more impressedwith the importance of the art of pottery than Iam, and though I have not, I hope, neglected thestudy of it from the artistic or historico/artisticside, I do not think myselfbound to follow up thesubject ofyour especial art; not so much becauseb I


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Lecture IL I know no more of the technical side of it than IArt and the have thought enough to enableme to understandBeauty of it from the above^said historicoârtistic side; butthe Earth* rather because I feel it almost impossible to dis/

sociate oneoftheornamental arts fromthe othersâs things go nowâ^days* Neither do I think Ishould interest you much^ still less instruct youîf I were to recapitulate the general rules thatought to guide a designer for tne industrial arts;at the very first foundationofthese schools thein^structors inthem formulatedthose rules clearly&satisfactorily,and I thinktheyhave since been ac^cepted generally, at least in theory* What I doreally feel myself bound to do is to speak to youof certain things that are never absent from mythoughts, certain considerations on the conditionand prospects ofthe arts in general,the neglect ofwhich conditions would drive us in time into astrange state of things indeed; a state of thingsunder which no potter would put any decorationon his pots, and indeed, if a man of strict logicalmind, would never know ofwhat shape to makea pot, unlessthe actualuse itwasto beputtodrovehim in one direction or another* What I have tosay on these matters will not, I fear, be very newto you, and perhaps it may more or less offend}rou ; but I will beg you to believethat I feeldeepxy the honour you have done me in asking me toaddressyou* I cannotdoubt you haveasked me todo so that you might hear what I may chance to


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think on the subject of the arts, and it seems to Lecture ILme, therefore, that I should ill repay you for that Art and thehonour, and be treating you unworthily, if I were Beauty ofto stand here and tell you at great length what I the Earth.do not think* So I will ask your leave and licenseto speak plainly, as I promise I will not speakhgfhtly.Yet I would not have vou think I underrate thedifficultyofthe art ofplainspeaking,an art as dif^^ficult, perhaps, as that of pottery, and not nearlyso much of it done in theworld; so what I will askyou to forgive me if I wound your feelings in anyway will not be mv downright meaning, my au/*dacious and rash thought, but rather my clumsywayof expressing it; and in truth I expecttohaveyour forgiveness, since in my heart I believe thata plain word spoken because it must be said, freefrom malice or self-seeking, can be no lasting of^fence to any one, whereas, what end is there tothe wrong and damage that come ofhalf^^heartedspeech, ofwords spoken in vagueness,hypocrisy,and cowardice?You who in these parts make such hard, smooth,well^compacted, and enduring pottery under/stand well thatyou mustgiveitotnerqualitiesbe-^sidesthosewhichmake it fit for ordinaryuse*Youmust profess to make it beautiful as well as use/ful, and if you did not you would certainly loseyour market* That has been the view the worldhas taken of your art, & of all the industrial arts


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Lecture IL since the beginning of history^ and, as I said, isArt and the held to this day, whether from the force of habitBeauty of or otherwise*the Earth* Nevertheless, so different is the position ofart in

our daily lives from what it used to be that itseems to me, (and Iam not alone in mythought),that the world is hesitating as to whether it shalltake art home to it or cast it out*I feel that I am bound to explain what mayseema very startling as it is assuredly a very seriousstatement* I will do so in as few words as I can* Ido not know whether a sense of the great changewhich has befallen the arts in modern times hascome home to most, or indeed to many, ofyou ; achange which has onlyculminated in quite recenttimes within the lives ofmany ofyou present* Itmay seem to you that there has been no break inthe chain of art, at all events since it began tostruggle out of the confusion & barbarism oftheearly middle ages ; you may think that there hasbeen gradual change in it, growth, improvement(not always perhaps readily recosfnized at first,that latter) ,but that all this has taken place withxout violence or breakdown, & that the growth &improvement are still going on*And this seems a very reasonable view to take ofit,& is analogous beyonddoubt to what has hap^pened on other sides ofhuman progress; nay, itis on this ground that your pleasure in art isfounded, & your hopes for its future. That foun^

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dation forhope has failed somcofus; onwhatour Lecture Ilfhopes arefounded to-day I maybe able to tell you Art and thepartly this evening, but I will now give you a Beauty ofglimpse ofthe abyss into which our earlier hope the Earth*tumbled*Let us look back a little to the early middle ages,the days ofbarbarism and confusion* As you fol^low the pages ofthe keen^eyed, cool-headed Gib**bon, you may well think that the genius of thegreat historian has been wasted over the meansquabbles, the bald self-^seeking, the ignoble su^perstition, the pomp and the cruelty ofthe kingsand scoundrels who are the chief persons namedinthestory; yetalsovoucannotfailtoknow,whenyoucometo think or it, thatthe storyhas notbeenfuUytold; nayscarce told at all,onlya chancehintgiven, here and there* The palace and the campwere but a small part of their world surely; andoutside them you may be sure that faith& heroxism and love were at work, or what birth couldthere have been from those days ? For the visibletokens ofthat birth you must seek in the art thatgrew up and flourished amid that barbarism andconfusion, and you know who wrought it* Thetyrants, and pedants, & bullies of the time paiddog^s wages for it,& bribed their godswith it,butthey were too busy over other things to make it;the nameless people wrought it; for no names ofits makers are lett, not one* Their work only isleft,& all that came of it,& allthat istocome of it*


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Lecture IL What came of ft first was the complete freedomArt and the ofart in themidstofa societythat had at least hexBeauty of gunto free itselffrom religious& political fetters^the Earth* Art was nolonger now, as inEgypt ofoldentime,keptrigidlywithin certainprescribed bounds that

no fancy might play with, no imagination over/pass, lest the majesty of the beautiful symbolsmight be clouded and the memory of the awfulmysteries they symbolized become dim in thehearts of men* Nor was it any longer as in theGreece of Pericles, wherein no thought might beexpressed that could not be expressed in perfectform* Art was free* W^hatever a man thought of,that he might bring to light by the labour of hishands, to be praised and wondered at by his fel^*lows* Whateverman had thought in him ofanykind, & skill in him of any kind to express it, hewas deemed good enough to be used (or his ownpleasure& the pleasure of his fellows; in this artnothing& nobody was wasted ; all people east ofthe Atlantic felt this art; from Bokhara to Gal^

' way, from Iceland to Madras, all the world glit^teredwith its brightness and quivered with its vugour* It cast downthe partitions ofrace& religionalso* Christianand Mussulmanweremadejoyfulbyit; Kelt,Teuton,& Latin raisedituptogether;Persian, Tartar, and Arab gave and took its giftsfromoneanother* Consideringhowoldtheworldis it was not too long-lived at its best* In the dayswhen Norwegian, Dane, and Icelander stalked


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through the streets of Micklegarth, and hedged Lecture ILwith their axes the throne of Kirialax the Greek Art and theking, it was alive & vigorous^ When fahnd Dan/ Beauty ofdolo was led from the Venetian galleys on to the the Earthsconquered wall of Constantinople, it was near toits best& purestdays*When Constantine Palaeo^logus came back an old and care^'worn man froma peacefuller home in the Morca to his doom inthe great city, and the last Caesar got the muddleof his life solved, not ingloriously, by Turkishswords on the breached and battered walls ofthat same Constantinople, there were signs ofsickness beginning to showin the art that sprangfrom there to cover east and west alike with itsglory.Ana allthattime itwas the artof freemen.Whatxever slavery still existed in the world (more thanenough, as always) art had no share in it; & stillitwas onlyhere&therethat anygreat namesroseabove the host of those that wrought it. Thesenames(& itwas mainlyin Italy only) came to thefrontwhenthosebranches of itthatwere theworkof collective rather than individual genius, archietecture especially,had quite reached theirhighestperfection. Men began to look round for some/thing more startlinglynew thanthe slow, gradualchange ofarchitecture & the attendant lesser artscould givethem.Thischangetheyfoundinthe glo^riouswork ofthe painters,&theyreceived it withan out^spoken excitement and joy that seems

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Lecture IL strangeindeed to us inthese dayswhen art is heldArt and the so cheap*Beauty of All went better than well for a time; though inthe Earth* Italy architecture began to lose something oftheperfection it had gained^ yet it was scarcely to be

noticed amidst the glory of the light that was in^creasing inpainting and sculpture* In France andEngland meantime the change^ as it was slower

, in growing to a head, so it had begun earlier^ as/ witness the sculpture in the great French Chur^ches^ and the exquisite drawing of the illumina^tions of English books; while the Flemings, nev^cr very great in the art of building, towards the

, endofthis period hadfound theirtrue vocation aspainters of a sweet and serious external naturalism,illuminated bycolourunsurpassed for purityand brightness*So had the art of the middle ages climbed gradu^ally to the top of the hill, doubtless not withoutcarrying the seeds of the disease that was to endit,threatenings ofgreatchangewhichno doubt noone heeded at the time* Nor was there much towonder at in their blindness, since still for centumries to come their art was full oflife & splendour,8c when at last its death drew near men could seein it nothingbut the hopeofa new life* Formanyyears, a hundred years at least, before the changereally showed itself, the expression ofthe greaterthoughts that art can deal with was being mademore difficult tomennot speciallylearned* With^8


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out demanding the absolute perfection that was Lecture ILthe rule inthe days of Greece,peoplebegan to look Art and thefor an intricacy oftreatment that the Greeks had Beauty ofnever dreamed of; men began to see hopes of the Earth*reah'zing scenes of history& poetry in a far morecomplete way than the best of their forerunnershadattempted* Yet forlongthe severancebetweenartist and artizan (as our nicknames go) was notobvious, though doubtlessthingswere leading upto it; it is, perhaps, noticeable chiefly inthe diflFer*^ence between the work of nation and nation ra^therthanamongthe individualworkmen* I mean,for instance, that in the thirteenth century Engxland was going step by step with Italy as far asmere excellence is concerned, while in the middleofthe fifteenth England was rude, and Italy cul-'tured; and even while the change was preparing, i^, L. ,,^^ ,^by one accident or another came a great access of ^discoveries ofthe art and literature ofthe ancientworld, &,as it were, fate ran to meet the half^ex-^pressed longings ofmen*Then, indeed, all hesitation was over, and sud^denly, as it now seems to us, amidst a blaze ofglory, the hoped^'for new birth took place* Once,as I have said, the makers of beautiful thingspassed away nameless; but under the Renais^sance there aremorenames ofexcellentcraftsmenleft to us than a goodmemorycanwell remember,& among those names are the greatest the worldhas ever known, or perhaps ever will know. No

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Lecture IL wonder men's exultation rose high; no wonderArt and the that their pride blinded them & that they did notBeauty of knowwhere theywere ; yet most pitiable and sadthe Earths the story is It was one of those strange timeswhen men seem to themselves to have pierced

through all the space which lies between longingand attainment* They, it seems, and no others,have at lastreached the spot where lie heaped toxgether allthetreasuresoftheworld,vainly soughtaforetime* They, it seems,have everything,& noone ofthose thatwent beforethemhad anything,nay,noteventheir fatherswhose bones lieyet un^rotted under the turf*The men of the Renaissance looked at the thou^sand yearsbehind them as a deedless blank,& atall that lay before them as a perpetual triumphalmarch* We, taught so much by other people'sfailures, can seetheirposition otherwise thanthat*We can see that while up to that time, since artfirst began, it had always looked forward, now itwas looking backward; that whereas once menwere taught to look through the art at thatwhichthe art represented, theywerenowtaughtto deemthe artanend in itself,&that it mattered nothingwhetherthe story it toldwas believed or not* Onceits aimwasto see,now its aimwas tobe seen only*Once it was done to be understood,& to be help^ful to all men : now the vulgar were beyond thepale,&the insults which theGreek slave-holdersand the Roman tax/sweaters ofold cast upon theID


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people, upon all men but a chosen few, were Lecture ILbrought forth& trickedup again in fantasticguise Art and theto adorn the day ofboundless hope* Beauty ofNot all this, indeed, came at once,but comeit did, the Earth*nor very slowly either, when men once began tolook back* At the beginningofthe sixteenth cen^tury the new birth was in its hey-day* Before theseventeenth had quite begun, what had becomeofits over/weening hopes? In Venice alone ofallItalywas anyartbeingdonethatwas ofanyworth*The conquered North had gained nothing fromItaly save an imitation ofits worst extravagance,and all that saved the art of England from no^thingness was a tradition of the earlier days stilllingering among a people rustic and narrow^minded indeed,but serious, truthful,& of simplehabits*I have just spoken somewhatofhow this came axbout* But whatwas at the bottom of it, and whatI wish you chiefly to note and remember is this,thatthe men ofthe Renaissance lent alltheir ener/-gies,consciouslyorunconsciously,to the severance

'^ of art from the daily lives ofmen, and that theybrought it to pass, ifnot utterlyin theirown days,yet speedily and certainly* I must remind you,though I, and better men than I,have said it over& overagain,that once everyman that madeany^thing made it a work ofart besides a useful pieceofgoods,whereasnow, onlyaveryfewthings haveeventhemostdistantclaimtobe consideredworks ^^

It


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Lecture IL of art I beg you to consider that most carefully-Art and the and seriously, & to try to think what it means*Beauty of But first, lest any of you doubt it, let me ask youthe Earth* what forms the great mass of the objects that fillour museums, setting aside positive pictures and

sculpture? Is it not just the common householdgoods of past time? True it is that some peoplemaylookuponthem simplyas curiosities,butyouand I have been taught mostproperlyto look up.'onthem as priceless treasuresthat canteach us allsorts of things, and yet, I repeat, they are for themost part commonhousehold goods,wrought by^'common fellows,^^ as people say now, withoutany cultivation, men who thought the sun wentround the earth, & thatJerusalem was exactly inthe middle ofthe world*Again, take another museum that we have stillleft us, our countrychurches* Take note ofthem,I say, to see how art ran through every thing; foryou must not let the name of^'church '^ misleadyou : intimesofreal artpeoplebuilttheir churchesin just the same style as theirhouses; ** ecclesiasticcal art'^ is an invention of the last thirty years*Well, I myselfam just fresh from an out/of^thexway part ofthe country near the end of the navixgable Thames, where, within a radius of fivemiles, are some half-dozen tiny village churches,everyoneofwhich is a beautiful work ofart, withits own individuality* These are the works oftheThames/side country bumpkins, as you would12


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call us,nothinggranderthan that* Ifthesame sort Lecture ILof people were to design and build them now, Art and the(since within the last fifty years or so they have Beauty oflost all the old traditions ofbuilding,though they the Earth*clung to them longer than most people), theycould notbuild anythingbetterthan the ordinarylittle plain Nonconformist chapels that one sees


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Lecture IL by violence, superstition, ignorance, slavery; yetArt and the I cannot help thinking that sorely as poor folksBeauty of needed a solace, they did not altogether lack one,the Earth. &that solace was pleasure intheirwork Ah, sirs,much as the world has won since then, I do not

think ithaswon forallmen such perfecthappinessthat we can afford to cast aside any solace thatnature holds forth to us* Or mustwe for ever becasting out one devil by another ? Shall we nevermake a push to get rid ofthe whole pack ofthemat once rI do not mean to saythat all the work we do nowis done without any pleasure, but I mean to saythatthepleasure is ratherthatofconqueringagoodspell ofwork, a courageous and good feeling cerxtainly, or ofbearing up well under the burden, &seldom, very seldom, comes to the pitch ofcom^pelling the workman, out of the fulness of hisheart, to impress on the work itselfthe tokens ofhis manly pleasure*Norwill our system oforganizingthework allowofit* In almost all cases there is no sympathybextween the designer and the man who carries outthe design; not unseldom the designer also isdriventowork in amechanical,down^heartedkindof way, and I don't wonder at it* I know by cx^perience that the making of design after design,merediagrams,mindyou,withoutoneselfexecuteing them, is a great strain upon the mind* It isnecessary, unless all workmen ofall grades are to

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ff ^ OF THEI UNIVERSITY j

be permanentlydegraded into machines,that the Lecture Ihand should rest the mind aswell asthe mind the Art and thehand* And I saythatthis is thekind ofworkwhich Beauty ofthe world has lost, supplying its place with the the Earth*workwhich is the result ofthe division oflabour*That work, whatever else it can do, cannot pro^duce art,which must, aslongas thepresentsystemlasts, be entirelyconfined to suchworks as are theworkfrombeginning to endofoneman: pictures,independent sculpture, and the like* As to these,on the onehand,theycannot fill the gapwhich theloss of popular art has made, nor can they, espe^cially the more imaginative of them, receive thesympathywhich shouldbetheirdue* I mustspeakplainly and say that as things go it is impossiblefor anyone who is not highly educated to under^stand the higher kind of pictures* Nay, I believemost people receive very little impression indeedfrom any pictures but those which represent thescenes with which they are thoroughly familiar*The aspect of this as regards people in general istomymindmuchmoreimportantthantnatwhichhas to do with the unlucky artist; but he also hassome claim upon our consideration; & I am surethat this lack of the general sympathy ofsimplepeople weighs very heavily on him, and makeshis work feverish and dreamy, or crabbed andperverse*No, be sure ifthe people is sick its leaders alsohave need ofhealing* Art willnot growand flour/*15


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Lecture IL ish, nay, it will not long exist, unless it be sharedArt and the by all people; and formy part I don't wish thatBeauty of it should^the Earth* Therefore it is that I stand before you to say that

,'' the world has in these days to choosewhether she

will have art or leave it,and thatwe also, each oneof us, have to make up our minds which campwewill or can join, those that honestly accept art orthose that honestly reject it.Once more letmetrytoputintowords whatthesetwo alternatives mean* Ifyouaccept it, it mustbepart ofyour daily lives, and the daily life ofeveryman* It will be with us wherever we go, in theancient city full of traditions of past time, in thenewly^cleared farm in America or the colonies,where no man has dwelt for traditions to gatherround him; in the quiet countryside as inthebusytown, no place shall be without it. You will haveit with you in your sorrow as in your jov, in yourwork^a^day hours as inyourleisure. Itsnall be norespecter ofpersons, but be shared by gentle andsimple, learned& unlearned, & be as a languagethat all can understand. It will not hinder anyworkthatisnecessarytothelifeofmanatthebest,but it will destroy all degrading toil, all enervat/*ingluxury,allfoppish frivolity. Itwillbethedead^ly foe ofignorance, dishonesty, and tyranny, andwill foster good^will, fair dealing, and confidencebetween man & man. It will teach you to respectthe highest intellect with a manly reverence, but


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not todcspiscanymanwhodoes not pretend to be Lecture ILwhat he is not; and that which will be the instru^ Art and thement that it shall workwith& the food that shall Beauty ofnourish it shall be man's pleasure in his daily la^ the Earth*-bour, the kindest and best gift that the world hasever had*Again I say, I am surethatthis iswhat art means,no less ; that if we attempt to keep art alive onotherterms,we arebut bolstering up a sham,andthat it would be far betterfor us to accept the otheralternative, the frankrejection ofart, asmanypeo^pie,& theynot the worst ofus,have alreadydoneTo these and not to me you must go ifyou wantto have any clear idea ofwhat is hoped for the fu/*ture oftheworldwhen art is laidwithin her tomb*Yet I think I can in a measure judgefrom the pre^sent tendency ofmatters what is likely to happento those things which we handicraftsmen have todeal with*When men have given up the idea that theworkof men's hands can ever be pleasurable to them,theymust, as good men and true, do their utmostto reduce the work of the world to a minimumlike us artiststheymustdo alltheycan to simplifythe life of man, to reduce his wants as much aspossible; & doubtless in theory they will be ableto reduce them more than we shall, for it is clearthat the waste of tissue caused by a search afterbeauty will be forbidden : all ornament will ceasefrom thework ofmen'shands, though still, wher^d 17

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Lecture IL ever nature works there will be beauty* The gar^Art and the ment shall be unadorned, though the moth thatBeauty of frets it is painted with silver and pearL Londonthe Earth* shall be a desert of hideousness,though the blos/*som of the '* London. pride ^- be more daintily

flecked than the minutest missal that ever monkpainted*Andwhen allis done therewill yet be toomuch wotk# 1:hat is^to jsay, too much pain in theworld* ::::t. ^ *) :, %>t:j;;i;i. * ri^ v * ; \t--,;,?a-.Whatthen? Machines then* Trulywe shallhavea good stock to start with, but not near enough*Some men must press on to martyrdom, and toilto invent new ones, till at lastprettynearlyevery/thing that is necessary to men will be made bymachines* I don't see why it should not be done*I myselfhave boundless faith in their capacity* Ibelieve machines can do everything, except makeworksofart* ; .^ .And yet again, what next? Supposing we shallbe able to get martyrs enough (or say slaves) tomake all the machines that will still be needed,&to work them, shall we stillbe able to get rid ofalllabour, of all that which we have found out is anunmitigated curse? Andwhatwill ourconsciencesbe like (since I started by supposing us all to beconscientious people), when we think we havedone all that we can do, and must still be waitedupon bygroaning, discontented wretches ? Whatshall we do, I say?Well, I must say thatmyimaginationwillstretchl8


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no further thanto suggest rebellion in general asa Lecture 1 1remedy, the end of which rebellion, if successful, Art and themust needs be to set up some form of art again as Beauty ofa necessary solace ofmankind* the Earth*But to say the truth, this leads me to making an^other suggestion, apracticalone I consider it* Sup^pose we start by rebelling at once ; because whenI spoke oftheworld havingto choose between ac^cepting and rejecting art, I did not suppose thatits choice could be final if it chose to reject it* No,the rebellion will have to come and will be vic^torious, don^t doubt that; only if we wait till thetyranny is firmly established our rebellion willhave to be a Nihilistic one; every help would begone save deadly anger and the hope that comesofdespair; whereas if we begin now, the changeand the counter^change will work together, andthe new art will come upon us gradually, and weshall one day see it marching on steadily and vic^toriously, though itsbattlehas raised no clamour,we, or our sons, or our sons^ sons*Howshall ourrebellion begin then ? What is theremedy for the lack of due pleasure in their workwhich has befallen all craftsmen,and for the conxsequent sickness of art and degradation ofcivilizeation ?I am afraid whatever answer I may make to thatquestion will disappoint you* I myself suffer sosorelyfromthe lack above-mentioned that I havelittle remedy in myselfsave that offostering dis>19


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Lecture IL content* I have no infallible nostrum to cure anArt and the evil whose growth is centuries old* AnyremediesBeauty of I can think ofare commonplace enough* Inthosethe Earth* old days of popular art^ the world, in spite of allthe ills thatbeset life,was strugglingtowardcivili^

zation& liberty,& it is inthat waywhichwemustalso struggle,unlessyouthinkthatwe are civilizedenoughalready,as I must confess I do not* Educa^tiononall sides iswhat we must look to* We mayexpect,ifwedo notlearnmuch,tolearn this atleast,that we know but little,& that knowledgemeansaspiration or discontent, call it which you will*

X I do not doubtthat, as far as our schools of art go,education is bringing us to that point* I do notthink any reasonable man can consider them afailure when the condition ofthe ornamental partofthe individual arts is considered at the time oftheir foundation* True it is that thosewho estab*'lished them were partly influenced by a delusiveexpectation that they would presently be able tosupply directly a demand which was felt fortrained& skilrul designers ofgoods; but, thoughthis hope failed them, they have no doubt in^fluencedboththat sideofart& others also ; amongall that theyhave done not the least is that publicrecognition of the value of art in general whichtheirvery existenceimplies : or, to speakmore cor-^rectly, their existence and the interest that is feltin them, is a token of people's uneasiness at thepresent disorganized state ofthe arts*

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Perhaps you who study here, & represent such a Lecture Iljlarge body of people who must needs have some Art and theaspirations towards the progress of the arts^ will Beauty ofexcuse a word or two from me a little less general the Earth* .than the rest I have been saying* I think I have aright to look upon you as enrolled soldiers ofthatrebellion against blank ugliness that I have beenpreaching this evening. You, therefore, above allpeople are bound to be careful not to give cause tothe enemyto blaspheme. Youarebound tobespe^cially careful to do solid, genuine work,& eschewall pretence and flashiness.Be careful to eschew all vagueness. It is better tobe caught out in goingwrong when you have hada definite purpose,than to shuffle and slur so thatpeople can't blame you because they don't knowwhat you are at. Hold fast to distinct form in art.Don't think too much of style, but set yourselftoget outofyouwhatyouthink beautiful,& expressit, as cautiously as you please, but, I repeat, quitedistinctly and without vagueness. Always tninkyour design out in your head before you begin toget it on the paper. Don't begin by slobbering &messing about in the hope that something maycome outof it. Youmust see itbeforeyou candrawit, whether the design be ofyour own inventionor nature's. Remember always, form before co^our, & outline, silhouette, before modelling; notbecause these latter are of less importance, butbecause theycan't be right ifthe first are wrong.21


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Lecture IL Now, upon all these pointsyou may be as severeArt and the with yourselves as you will, and are not likely toBeauty of betoosevere^the Earth* Furthermore,those ofyou especially who are de/signing for goods, try to get the most out ofyour

material, but always in such a way as honours itmost* Not only should it be obvious what yourmaterial is, but something should be done withit which is specially natural to it, something thatcould not be donewith anyother* This is theveryraison d'etre ofdecorative art : to make stone looklike ironwork, or wood like silk, or pottery likestone is the last resource ofthe decrepitude of art*Set yourselves as much as possible against allmachine work (this to all men)* But ifyou haveto design for machine work, at least let your de-^sign show clearly what it is* Make it mechanicalwith a vengeance, at the same time as simple aspossible* Don'ttry,forinstance,tomakeaprintedplate look likeahand/'paintedone : make itsome/thing which no one would try to do if he werepainting by hand, if your market drives you intoprinted plates : I don't seetheuse ofthemmyself*To sum up, don't let yourselves be made ma^chines, or it is all up with you as artists* ThoughI don't much love the iron and brass machines,the flesh & blood ones are more terrible& hope/less to me ; no man is so clumsy or base a work/man that he is not fit for something better thanthat*22


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Well, I have saidthateducation isthe first remedy Lecture 1 1*^forthc barbarismwhich has beenbred bythe hur^ Art and thety ofciviKzation and competitive commerce* To Beauty ofknow that men lived & worked mightily before the Earth. .you is an incentive foryou towork faithfullynow,that you mayleave somethingto those who comeafter you*What next is to be thought of after education ? Imusthereadmit that ifyou acceptart and jointheranks ofthose who are to rise in rebellion againstthe Philistines^ you will have a roughish time ofit* ** Nothing fornothing and not much for a dol^lar/^ says a Yankee somewhere,and I am sorry tosay it is the rule of nature also* Those ofus whohave moneywill have to give ofit to the cause,&all of us will have to give time, and thought, andtrouble to it; and I must nowconsider amatter ofthe utmost importance to art and to the lives ofall ofus, which we can, if we please, deal with atonce, but which emphatically claims ofus time,thought, and money* Ofallthethings thatis like^ly to give us back popular art in England, thecleaning of England is the first and the most ne^cessary* Those who are to make beautiful thingsmust live in a beautiful place* Some people maybe inclinedto say, and I have heard the argumentput forward, thattheveryopposition betweentheserenity& purityof art and the turmoil& squalorof a greatmodem city stimulates the inventionof artists, and produces special life in the art ofto>23


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Lecture IL day* I cannotbclieve it. It seems to me that at theArt and the best itbut stimulates the feverish&dreamy qual^Beauty of ities that throw some artists out of the generalthe Earth, sympathy. Butapartfromthat,thesearemenwhoare stuflfedwith memories ofmore romantic days

and pleasanter lands^and it is on these memoriesthey hve, to my mind not altogether happily fortheir art; andyou see it is onlyaveryfewmenwhocould have even these doubtful advantages.I abide by my statement that those who are tomakebeautifulthingsmustliveinbeautifulplaces,but you must understand I do not mean to claimfor all craftsmen a share of those gardens of theworld, or ofthose sublime& awe-^inspiringmoun^tains and wastes that men make pilgrimages tosee; that is to say, not a personal share. Most ofusmustbe contentwith the tales ofthe poets andpainters about these places, and learn to love thenarrow spot that surrounds our daily life forwhatofbeautyand sympathy there is in it.For surely there is no square mile of earth's in^habitable surface that is not beautiful in its ownway, ifwe men will only abstain from wilfullydestroying that beauty; and it is this reasonableshare in the beautyofthe earth that I claim as theright ofeverymanwho will earn itbyduelabouradecent housewith decent surroundings for everyhonest and industrious family; that is the claimwhich I make ofyou in the name of art. Isit suchan exorbitant claim to make ofcivilization? ofa24


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civilization that is too apt to boast in after/dinner Lecture ILspeeches; too apt to thrust her blessings on far^ Art and theoff peoples at the cannon^s mouth before she Beauty ofhas improved thequalityofthoseblessings so far the Earth*that they are worth having at any price, even thesmallest.Well, I am afraid that claim is exorbitant* Bothyou as representatives of the manufacturing dis-^tricts, and I as representing the metropolis, seemhitherto to have assumed that, at any rate; nor isthere onefamilyin athousandthathas establishedits claim to the right aforesaid* It is apitythough;for if the claim is to be considered inadmissible,then is it most certain that we have been simplyfilling windbags and weaving sand-gropes by allthe trouble we have taken in founding schools ofart, National Galleries, South Kensington Muxseums, and all the rest ofit* Vf hnI have said education is good, is necessary, to allpeople; neithercan you ifyou wouldwithhold it;and yet to educate people with no hope, what doyou expect to come ofthat? Perhaps you mightlearn what to expect in Russia*Look you, as I sit at my work at home, which isat Hammersmith, close to the river, I often heargo past the window some of that ruffianism ofwhich a good deal has been said in the papers oflate,and has been saidbeforeat recurring periods*As I hear the yells and shrieks& all the degrada^tioncast on the glorioustongueof Shakespeare &

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Lecture 1 1 Milton, as I see the brutal reckless faces& figuresArt and the go past me, it rouses the recklessness & brutalityBeauty of in me also,& fierce wrath takes possession ofme,the Earth* till I remember, as I hope I mostly do, that itwasmy good luck only ofbeing born respectable and

rich that has put me on this side of the windowamongdelightfulbooksandlovelyworks ofart,&notontheother side, intheempty street,thedrinkssteeped liquor/shops, the foul anddcgraded lodgîngs* What words can say what all that means ?Do not think, I beg of you, that I am speakingrhetorically in sayingthat when I thinkofall this,I feel that the one great thing I desire is that thisgreat countryshould shake offfrom her all foreignand colonial entanglements,& turn that mightyforceofher respectablepeople,the greatest powerthe world has ever seen, to giving the children ofthese poor folk the pleasures&the hopfes ofmen*Is that really impossible ? is there no hope of it?If so, I can only say that civilization is a delusionand a lie; there is no such thing and no hope ofsuch a thing*But since I wish to live,& even tobe happy, I can^not believe it impossible* Iknow bymyown feelîngs& desires what these men want,what wouldhave saved them from this lowest depth of savâgery : employmentwhichwould foster their self-^respect and win the praise and sympathy oftheirfellows, and dwellings which they could come towith pleasure, surroundings which would soothe26


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and elevate them; reasonable labour, reasonable Lecture ILrest^ There is only one thing that can give them Art and thethis, and that is art* Beauty ofI have no doubt that you think this statement a the Earth*ridiculous exaggeration,but it ismy firm convicttion nevertheless,& I can onlyask you to remem^ber that in mymind it meansthe properlyorgansized labour or all men who make anything; thatmust at least be a mighty instrument in theraising ofmen's seltrespect, in the adding ofdig^nity to their lives* Once more, '* Nothing for no^thingandvery Httleforadollar/' You can nomorehave art without paying for it than you can haveanythingelse,&ifyou care about art,asyoumustwhen you come to know it, you will not shrinkfrom the necessary sacrifice* After all, we are thedescendants and countrymen of those who havewell known how to give the lesser for the greater*What you have to sacrifice is chieflymoney, thatis, force, and dirt; a serious sacrifice I know; butperhaps, as I have said, we have made greater inEngland aforetime; nay, I am far from sure thatdirt will not in the Iqng run cost us more in hardcash even than art will*So which shall we have, art or dirt ?What is to be done, then, if we make the betterchoice? The land we live in is not very big eitherin actual acreage or in scale of fashion,but thinkit is notour natural love for it only that makes usthink it as fitas anyland forthepeaceful dwellings

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Lecture IL of serious men* Our fathers have shown us that,Art and the ifitcouldotherwisebedoubted* I say,without fearBeauty of ofcontradiction, thatno dweUing ofmen has everthe Earths been sweeter or pleasanter than an ancient Eng/hsh house; but our fathers treated ourlovely land

well, and we have treated it ilL Timewas when itwas beautiful from endto end, and now you haveto pick your waycarefully to avoid coming acrossblotches of hideousness which are a disgrace, Iwill not say to civilization, but to human nature^I have seenno statisticsofthe size oftheseblotchesin relation to the unspoiled, or partially spoiled,country, but in some places they run together soas to cover a whole county, or even several coun/-ties,while they increase at a fearful rate, fearfulingood earnest and literally* Now, while this goeson unchecked, nay,unlamented, it is really idle totalk about art* Whilewe are doing this or lettingit be done,we are really covertlyrejecting art, andit would be honester and better for us ifwe did soopenly* If we accept art we must atone for whatwehavedoneand paythe costof it* We mustturnthis land fromthegrimy back yard ofaworkshopinto a garden* Ifthat seems difficult, or rather imxEossible, to some of you, I cannot help it; I onlynow that it is necessary*Asto its being impossible, I donot believe it*Themien of this generation even have accomplishedmatters thatbutavery littlewhile agowould havebeen thought impossible* They conquered their28


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difBcuIties because their faces were set in that du Lecture ILrection; &whatwas done once can bedoneagaiiw Art and theWhyeven the moneyand the science that we ex^ Beauty ofpend in devices for killingand maiming our ene^ the Earth*^mies present and future would makeagoodnest-^egg towards the promotionofdecencyofUfeifwecould make up our minds to that tremendoussacrifice* m0m:^l-trfHowever, I am far from saying that mere moneycan do much orindeedanything: it is ourwill thatmust doit* Norneed I attempttotryto showhowthat will should express itself in action* True Ihave, in common with some others, ideas as towhat steps would best help us on our way, butthose ideaswould not be accepted byyou,& I feelsure that when you are thoroughly intent on thegoal youwill findthemeanstoreach it,& it is ofin^finitesimal importancewhatthosemeansmaybe*Whenyou have acceptedthe maximthat the exxternal aspect of the country belongs to the wholepublic, & that whoever wilfully injures that pro/*perty is a public enemy, the cause will be on itsway to victory*Meantime it is encouraging to me to think thereis one thingthat makes itpossible forme to standhere, in a district that makes as much smoke aspottery,and tosaywhat Ihavebeensayingon thesubject of dirt, and that is that quite lately therehas been visible expression given to a feeling onthis subject,which has doubtless been long grow^29


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Lecture IL ing. If I am a crazy dreamer, as may well be, yetArt and the there are many members and supporters of suchBeauty of societies as the Kyrle and the Commons Pre^the Earth* servation Societies, who have not time to dream,and whose craziness, if that befel them, would

be speedily felt throughout the country*I prayyour pardon for having tried your patienceso long* Avery few words more, and I have done*Those words arewords ofhope* Indeed, if I havesaid anything that seemed to you hopeless, it hasbeen, I think, owing to that bitterness which willsometimes overtake an impatient man when hefeels how littlehisownhands candotowards help/*ingthe causethathehas atheart* I knowthatcausewill conquer in the end, for it is an article of faithwith me, that the world cannot drop back intosavagery, & that art must be its fellow on the for^* ward march* I know well it is not for me to pre^scribe the road which that progress must take* Iknow that many things that seem to me to/dayclinginghindrances,nay,poisonstothatprogress,may be furtherers of it, medicines to it, thoughtheybe fatedtobring terrible things to pass beforethevisiblegoodcomesofthem* Butthatvery faithimpels me to speak according to my knowledge,feeble as it may be and rash as the words maysound; for every man who has a cause at heart isbound to act as ifit depended onhim alone, how^ever well he mayknow his own unworthiness ; &thus is actionbroughtto birth frommere opinion*

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And in all I have been saying I have had steadily Lecture ILin mind that you have asked me to speak to you Art and theas a friend,& that I could do no less thanbe quite Beauty ofopen and fearless before my friends and fellow^ the Earth-craftsmen*Reprinted at the Chiswick Press with the Goldentype designed by William Morris for the Kelm^scott Press, and finished on the sixteenth dayofAugust, 1899* Published by Longmans & Co- '39, Paternoster Row, London*

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