Arts & Crafts-rörelsen började som en motreaktion till industrialismen och de rådande stilidealen i Storbritannien vid 1800-talets mitt. De grundläggande idéerna hos dess anhängare, bland andra konstkritikern John Ruskin och konstnären William Morris, utvecklades till en global rörelse och spreds genom hantverkskolonier och influerade yrkesutövare på flera områden, från formgivning och arkitektur till ornamentik och odling. Rörelsen nådde Sverige några årtionden senare och tog sig uttryck som ett romantiserande av det enkla livet, knutet till hemmet. En av rörelsens frontfigurer i Sverige är Carl Larsson, vars färgrika målningar är kända för att skildra vardagslivets enkelhet.

I den här boken gör tolv författare nedslag i de hemmiljöer, konstskolor, museer och andra organisationer där idealen och visionerna skapades, tolkades och utvecklades. Vi får läsa om rörelsens fortsatta relevans för vår tid; inte bara som en älskad mönsterskatt som inspirerar och ligger till grund för nya stilar, utan även vårt förhållande till skapande, hållbarhetstänk och livsstil. Denna generöst bildsatta antologi finns även i engelsk utgåva.

William Morris - poet, designer, campaigner, hero of the Arts & Crafts movement - was a giant of the Victorian age, and his beautiful creations and provocative philosophies are still with us today: but his wife Jane is too often relegated to a footnote, an artist''s model given no history or personality of her own. In truth, Jane and William''s personal and creative partnership was the central collaboration of both their lives. The homes they made together - the Red House, Kelmscott Manor and their houses in London - were works of art in themselves, and the great labour of their lives was life itself: through their houses and the objects they filled them with, they explored how we all might live a life more focused on beauty and fulfilment.In How We Might Live, Suzanne Fagence Cooper explores the lives and legacies of Jane and William Morris, finally giving Jane''s work the attention it deserves and taking us inside two lives of unparalleled creative artistry.

''To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, religion, all in one''John Ruskin - born 200 years ago, in February 1819 - was the greatest critic of his age: a critic not only of art and architecture but of society and life. But his writings - on beauty and truth, on work and leisure, on commerce and capitalism, on life and how to live it - can teach us more than ever about how to see the world around us clearly and how to live it.Dr Suzanne Fagence Cooper delves into Ruskin''s writings and uncovers the dizzying beauty and clarity of his vision. Whether he was examining the exquisite carvings of a medieval cathedral or the mass-produced wares of Victorian industry, chronicling the beauties of Venice and Florence or his own descent into old age and infirmity, Ruskin saw vividly the glories and the contradictions of life, and taught us how to see them as well.

Arts & Crafts-rörelsen började som en motreaktion till industrialismen och de rådande stilidealen i Storbritannien vid 1800-talets mitt. De grundläggande idéerna hos dess anhängare, bland andra konstkritikern John Ruskin och konstnären William Morris, utvecklades till en global rörelse och spreds genom hantverkskolonier och influerade yrkesutövare på flera områden, från formgivning och arkitektur till ornamentik och odling. Rörelsen nådde Sverige några årtionden senare och tog sig uttryck som ett romantiserande av det enkla livet, knutet till hemmet. En av rörelsens frontfigurer i Sverige är Carl Larsson, vars färgrika målningar är kända för att skildra vardagslivets enkelhet.

I den här boken gör tolv författare nedslag i de hemmiljöer, konstskolor, museer och andra organisationer där idealen och visionerna skapades, tolkades och utvecklades. Vi får läsa om rörelsens fortsatta relevans för vår tid; inte bara som en älskad mönsterskatt som inspirerar och ligger till grund för nya stilar, utan även vårt förhållande till skapande, hållbarhetstänk och livsstil. Denna generöst bildsatta antologi finns även i engelsk utgåva.

William Morris - poet, designer, campaigner, hero of the Arts & Crafts movement - was a giant of the Victorian age, and his beautiful creations and provocative philosophies are still with us today: but his wife Jane is too often relegated to a footnote, an artist''s model given no history or personality of her own. In truth, Jane and William''s personal and creative partnership was the central collaboration of both their lives. The homes they made together - the Red House, Kelmscott Manor and their houses in London - were works of art in themselves, and the great labour of their lives was life itself: through their houses and the objects they filled them with, they explored how we all might live a life more focused on beauty and fulfilment.In How We Might Live, Suzanne Fagence Cooper explores the lives and legacies of Jane and William Morris, finally giving Jane''s work the attention it deserves and taking us inside two lives of unparalleled creative artistry.

''To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, religion, all in one''John Ruskin - born 200 years ago, in February 1819 - was the greatest critic of his age: a critic not only of art and architecture but of society and life. But his writings - on beauty and truth, on work and leisure, on commerce and capitalism, on life and how to live it - can teach us more than ever about how to see the world around us clearly and how to live it.Dr Suzanne Fagence Cooper delves into Ruskin''s writings and uncovers the dizzying beauty and clarity of his vision. Whether he was examining the exquisite carvings of a medieval cathedral or the mass-produced wares of Victorian industry, chronicling the beauties of Venice and Florence or his own descent into old age and infirmity, Ruskin saw vividly the glories and the contradictions of life, and taught us how to see them as well.