How To Recognize Decorative Art: Look for Handmade History
Audio Brief
Show transcript
This episode explores decorative arts, defining them as the art of the everyday and highlighting the artistic and historical value of common household items.
There are three key takeaways from this discussion.
First, decorative arts encompass functional, aesthetically pleasing objects, representing the 'art of the everyday' found in items like furniture and textiles. This field transforms ordinary items into significant cultural artifacts, embodying both practical function and artistic expression.
Second, handmade items offer unique imperfections and expressive qualities, contrasting with machine-made uniformity. Pieces like a hooked rug showcase impressionistic qualities often rooted in local communities and available materials, revealing the maker's story and folk traditions.
Third, understanding an object's historical and cultural context, from regional traditions to movements like Arts and Crafts, reveals its design evolution and enduring legacy. Objects like the Windsor chair demonstrate how designs adapt across time and regions, adding layers of historical meaning.
Ultimately, the episode encourages appreciation for the craftsmanship, history, and aesthetic design in the everyday objects around us.
Episode Overview
- The curator introduces the concept of decorative arts, defining it as the "art of the everyday" and explaining how common household items possess artistic and historical value.
- The episode examines three specific objects from The Huntington's collection: a handmade hooked rug, various Windsor chairs, and an Arts and Crafts cabinet.
- It explores the criteria for what makes an object a piece of decorative art, focusing on its handmade nature, the story behind its creation, its historical context, and its unique artistic qualities.
- The discussion highlights how different artistic movements and regional traditions, from Maine folk art to the Arts and Crafts movement, influenced the design and function of these objects.
Key Concepts
- Decorative Arts: This field focuses on objects that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing, representing the "art of the everyday." It includes items like furniture, textiles, and ceramics.
- Handmade vs. Machine-Made: The curator distinguishes between the unique, expressive, and sometimes "loose" characteristics of handmade items (like the hooked rug) and the uniform, highly detailed nature of machine-made products.
- Folk Tradition: The episode explores how local communities create distinct artistic traditions based on available materials and cultural practices, as seen in the hooked rugs from Maine, which were often made by women using local wool and yarn.
- Evolution of Design: The Windsor chair is used as an example of how an object's design and function can evolve. Originally an English garden chair, it was brought indoors in America, where craftsmen developed unique regional variations, such as different back styles and leg placements.
- Arts and Crafts Movement: The final object, a cabinet from the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, represents a movement that valued hand-craftsmanship and drew inspiration directly from nature, reacting against industrial mass production.
Quotes
- At 00:37 - "The decorative arts is a field about the everyday, the everyday things. It's the creative, the art of the everyday." - The curator provides a concise and accessible definition of the episode's central theme.
- At 01:05 - "A more machine-made rug would be very detailed, a lot of very defined lines. In this particular folk tradition, the beauty in it is that you're able to to be very expressive and impressionistic." - This quote explains the key difference in aesthetic between handmade folk art and industrially produced items.
- At 05:15 - "So, whether or not you have a 19th-century Windsor chair or you have one that was made yesterday, the idea is to embrace and enjoy the tradition." - The speaker connects historical decorative arts to contemporary life, encouraging viewers to appreciate the enduring legacy of these designs.
Takeaways
- Look for the "art of the everyday" in your own home by considering the craftsmanship, history, and aesthetic design of your furniture, rugs, and other functional objects.
- Appreciate the unique imperfections and expressive qualities of handmade items, as these details often tell a story about the maker and the object's origin.
- To deepen your understanding of an object, investigate its historical and cultural context—where it was made, by whom, and what traditions or movements influenced its design.
