Arts and Crafts Design in America: A State-by-State Guide

Looks at stylistic examples from the arts and crafts movement of the late ninteenth and early twentieth centuries across the United States

Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, two transplanted Cincinnati architects, carved out a stylistic Arts and Crafts niche in the Pasadena, California, area. This aesthetic movement was more than just a whim to them, and the brothers actively promoted it with their incorporation of bold horizontal roof pitches, luxurious yet simple materials (such as Honduras mahogany and Burmese teak), and a harmonious approach to Asian influences, art nouveau patterns, and the best of the American East. Twenty-five of their designs still stand (all but one in California), some in their original state but most either renovated or resurrected. Smith and photographer Vertikoff chronicle an amazing abundance of evidence that two West Coast building designers could rival the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright. As Henry explained, "The idea was to eliminate everything unnecessary, to make the whole as direct and simple as possible, but always with the beautiful in mind as the first goal." Elegant and eloquent. Barbara Jacobs

Smith, who operates the Arts and Crafts Press, and photographer Vertikoff have brought together a much-needed survey of architecture by the California firm of Greene & Greene. Charles Sumner Greene and his brother Henry Mather Greene were smitten early by the Arts and Crafts movement that swept from England to America in the late 1890s. Charles was also said to be "under the spell of Japan." These two influences combined to produce astonishing joinery, courtyards, sweeping verandas, and Eastern pagodas and lanterns. The brothers' masterpieces were built from about 1903 to 1911, and 25 of them appear in this work, including the famed Gamble House in Pasadena and Charles Greene's own home and studio, which have been lovingly restored. A lavish companion to Randall L. Mackinson's Greene & Greene: Furniture and Related Designs (1979. o.p.), this work is highly recommended for general collections and is a pivotal purchase where there is architecture and Arts and Crafts interest.AJoseph C. Hewgley, Nashville P.L.
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