Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo facts for kids
Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (born December 12, 1851 – died March 15, 1942) was an important English architect and designer. He helped shape the Arts and Crafts Movement. He also started the Century Guild of Artists with Herbert Horne in 1882. Mackmurdo was a leader in the "Modern Style" in Britain, which later became known as the worldwide Art Nouveau movement.
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Arthur Mackmurdo's Early Life
Arthur Mackmurdo grew up as the son of a rich chemical maker. He went to Felsted School. He first trained with an architect named T. Chatfield Clarke. In 1869, he became an assistant to James Brooks, a Gothic Revival architect.
In 1873, Mackmurdo visited John Ruskin's School of Drawing. He traveled with Ruskin to Italy in 1874. He stayed in Florence to study for some time. Even though Ruskin influenced him, Mackmurdo was most impressed by Renaissance buildings in Italy.
Mackmurdo's Design Career
In 1874, Arthur Mackmurdo opened his own architecture office. It was located at 28 Southampton Street in central London.
Starting the Century Guild
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In 1882, Mackmurdo created the Century Guild of Artists. He started it with his friend and fellow architect Herbert Percy Horne. Many other artists joined the Guild. These included Selwyn Image, Clement Heaton, William De Morgan, and Benjamin Creswick.
The Century Guild was one of the most successful craft groups of its time. They offered to furnish entire homes and buildings. Artists in the Guild were encouraged to make the items themselves, not just design them. Mackmurdo himself became skilled in several crafts. These included metalworking and cabinet making.
Influential Designs and Motifs
In 1884, the Guild showed a music room at an exhibition in London. This display was also shown at exhibitions in Manchester and Liverpool. It featured two of Mackmurdo's favorite design ideas.
One idea was using plant shapes twisted into flowing curves. The art historian Nikolaus Pevsner said Mackmurdo's use of these curves was very important. He saw them on the title page of Mackmurdo's book, Wren's City Churches (1883). Pevsner called it "the first work of Art Nouveau". He noted that artists like Rossetti and Burne-Jones influenced this style.
The second design idea was using thin square columns. These columns had flat squares on top instead of traditional capitals. These columns influenced the furniture designs of C.F.A. Voysey. They also influenced Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Mackmurdo used these columns in his own house in Enfield (1887). He also used them on a house for artist Mortimer Menpes in Chelsea (1893–94). There, he blended them into a Queen Anne style.
Mackmurdo gave many of his works to the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow. This gallery now holds an important collection of Century Guild art.
Buildings Designed by Mackmurdo
- 6 (Halcyon) (1874–6, now demolished) and 8 (Brooklyn) (1883) Private Road, Enfield
- 16 Redington Road, Hampstead (1889)
- 12 Hans Road, Chelsea (1894)
- 25 Cadogan Gardens, Chelsea (1893–4)
- 109–13, Charterhouse Street (1900)
- Great Ruffins, Great Totham (1904)
- Village Hall, Great Totham (1929-1930)
See Also
In Spanish: Arthur Mackmurdo para niños
