Edwin Howland Blashfield and the British Arts and Crafts Movement

Sprague, Laura

Item

Edwin Howland Blashfield and the British Arts and Crafts Movement

Sprague, Laura

Abstract

Edwin Howland Blashfield, in spite of his activity in arts revived by the British Arts and Craftsmovement, is in current literature regarded solely as part of the American Renaissance. Throughthe use of Edwin Blashfield’s archive at the New York Historical Society, the letters on thedecorating process from Library of Congress Manuscripts Division between Blashfield andBernard Green, by scouring contemporary writing referencing Blashfield, and by comparingBlashfield’s lectures and articles to the lectures, books, and articles of John Ruskin, WilliamMorris, and Walter Crane, I have found that Blashfield has indeed been influenced by the BritishArts and Crafts movement. Not only was Blashfield influenced by British Arts and Crafts, buthis contemporaries recognized that link. Through his writing, murals, and even his personal lifeBlashfield demonstrated a strong connection to the British Arts and Crafts movement.