The Beautiful Necessity: Decorating with Arts & Crafts [Hardcover]

Bruce Smith (Author), Yoshiko Yamamoto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

Though the functional beauty of the Arts and Crafts movement has long been a part of American culture, it is now revitalized by simplicity seekers trying to counteract the fast pace of contemporary living. The elegant simplicity of Craftsman ideals is time defying, as the rooms and furnishings of The Beautiful Necessity: Decorting With Arts and Crafts will reveal. From the traditional--Greene and Greene, Gustav Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others--to the contemporary--Berkely Mills, Warren Hiles, East/West Furniture Design, and more--the Arts and Crafts movement is represented. All 140 exquisite photographs demonstrate how the Craftsman style has brought stunning warmth yet utilitarian ease to homes past and present.

(20000101)

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The book is filled with lavish color photographs and discusses how the Arts & Crafts movement came into being, how it was expressed in various regions of the country, and how current devotees can re-create its interior features. (San Francisco Chronicle ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Bruce Smith lover of history and historical writing, write on the Arts and Crafts movement, bungalows, craft, and food. Smith was the editor of American Bungalow News and associate editor of American Bungalow magazine. Smith co-owns The Arts and Crafts Press in Berkely, California, publishers of The Tabby: A Chronicle of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Yoshiko Yamamoto, lover of history and historical writing, write on the Arts and Crafts movement, bungalows, craft, and food. Yamamoto is both a student of life and of history. Yamamoto co-owns The Arts and Crafts Press in Berkely, California, publishers of The Tabby: A Chronicle of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers; 1st edition (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879057785
• ISBN-13: 978-0879057787
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,272,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arts and Crafts Revealed, August 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Beautiful Necessity: Decorating with Arts & Crafts (Hardcover)

This book was a pleasant surprise. Purchasing what I thought would be a good idea book for an upcoming remodel of my basement, I ended up with a general schooling of the driving forces behind the Arts & Crafts movement. The illustrations exposed the styles of many of the great names of the era. I now have a more thorough understanding of this revolt against the machine and can better appreciate the efforts of Morris, Stickley, Hubbard, and others to save the craftsman. The resources at the end of the book are a treasure trove of suppliers for all things Arts & Crafts.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Wonderful - 5 stars+, February 22, 2006

By 

Scott Pointon "Former Marine, Librarian, Wood... (Crest Hill, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Beautiful Necessity: Decorating with Arts & Crafts (Hardcover)

In the midst of a big arts and crafts kick I decided to bring home a bunch of books on the subject from my library. The Beautiful Necessity is the third such work I have reviewed recently, and I have to recommend it as a wonderful book. I really like the arrangement and presentation of the chapters, and the color photographs are well selected and beautiful. One of my bigger pet peeves with books like this is their tendency to be too regional in scope. Often a book purporting to cover a subject like arts and crafts interiors will focus too narrowly on just California Greene and Greene houses or just on New York Stickley houses. This book is great because it gives equal effort to showcasing interiors from Eastern, Midwestern, and Western examples of arts and crafts homes. I also commend the authors on their excellent resource guide in the back of the book. One can use this guide to find 10 sources each for everything from architects to antiques dealers, and carpeting to metalwork. There is even an extensive list of historic a&c homes that are open for public tours.

If you enjoy and/or collect books on this topic, I highly recommend this title as a "must have". You won't be disappointed.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for the Arts and Crafts fan., August 31, 2007

By 

J. Wagner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beautiful Necessity, The (Paperback)

We've had this book in our pile of Arts and Crafts reference material for a while and it still gets picked up once in a while for ideas of just to look at all the great photographs. As a previous reviewer mentions (and I agree completely with the assessment!) this book doesn't cover just one region. Too many Arts and Crafts book authors waste time writing a book about the style and then spend the entire book looking at one or two homes. If I see one more book naming itself in such a manner to lead the reader to believe that it is contains broad information about the style yet features nothing but pictures of the Greene and Greene "Gamble House" I'm going to scream! (authors take note!)

One thing I would mention to readers about this book is that it covers predominantly the American style of Arts and Crafts. While it does contain information about the individuals that began the movement in Europe and the reflections of those influences in the American version, it does not cover all of the style. The authors have done a great job presenting the information they have concentrated on, though. The book covers East Coast to West Coast, shows some of the influences that Japanese or Art Nouveau styles had in the movement and presents examples of the work done by several designers well known in the American Arts and Crafts movement such as Stickley, Wright and Greene & Greene. They cover funishings, decorative items such as pottery, leaded glass windows and lighting; along with the overall fit, finish, and philosophy behind building in the Arts and Crafts style. Definitely would recommend this book for your arts and crafts collection. Also recommend "The Arts and Crafts Companion", by Todd, for a bigger picture and more historical information.