Los Angeles Arts and Crafts movement

Los Angeles Arts and Crafts movement
Name	Los Angeles Arts and Crafts movement
Caption	Greene and Greene influence in Southern California designs
Location	Los Angeles, California
Founded	c. 1890s–1920s
Notable buildings	Gamble House; Hollyhock House; Ennis House

Los Angeles Arts and Crafts movement is the regional manifestation of the broader Arts and Crafts movement that flourished in late 19th- and early 20th-century Southern California, shaping architecture, furniture, landscape, and craft production across Los Angeles, Pasadena, California, Beverly Hills, California and surrounding communities. It combined influences from the British Arts and Crafts movement, Japanese architecture, Mission Revival architecture, and the work of individual practitioners who linked to institutions such as the Arts and Crafts Society of Los Angeles, the Pasadena Society of Artists, and the California Arts and Crafts Club. The movement intersected with civic development projects, private commissions, and exhibitions at venues like the Panama–Pacific International Exposition and the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894.

History and Origins

The origins trace to transatlantic exchanges between proponents like William Morris, Gustav Stickley, and émigré designers who traveled between London and San Francisco before settling in Los Angeles County. Early patrons included figures associated with the Southern Pacific Railroad expansion and real estate enterprises tied to the Los Angeles Times circle and developers active in Pasadena and South Pasadena. Important formative moments involved exhibitions at the California State Normal School, salons hosted by families like the Greene family and business patrons such as David Gamble of the Procter & Gamble lineage. The movement absorbed influences from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society and the Royal Academy of Arts while reacting against Victorian eclecticism promoted by firms such as McKim, Mead & White.

Key Figures and Organizations

Principal architects included brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene of Greene and Greene, Bertram Goodhue, Irving Gill, Myron Hunt, Reginald D. Johnson, Raymond M. Kennedy, and Rudolph Schindler. Noted patrons and collectors comprised Arroyo Seco residents like Edward Doheny, Henry Huntington, William Andrews Clark, and industrialists from Bunker Hill. Craft leaders and educators included William Lees Judson, Glen Lukens, Frederick Rupple, Lillian Palmer and Aline Barnsdall. Organizational hubs were the Pasadena Playhouse, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art precursor groups, the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and craft schools such as the Otis Art Institute and the Chouinard Art Institute.

Architectural and Design Characteristics

Regional characteristics merged Greene and Greene's joinery and teak work with Mission Revival stucco and tile motifs found in Santa Barbara, producing hybrids visible in works by Charles McKim-influenced commissions and the planar modernism of Irving Gill. Typical materials included redwood, laurel, oak, and clinker brick favored by Bertram G. Goodhue and mosaics referencing tiles used in Gardena workshops. Interiors displayed bespoke furniture by makers associated with Stickley, metalwork by artisans connected to Glen Lukens', and stained glass from studios similar to Judson Studios. Landscape integration echoed precedents from Frederick Law Olmsted-influenced plans and garden architects in the orbit of R. M. Schindler commissions.

Notable Buildings and Neighborhoods

Significant buildings encompassed the Gamble House in Pasadena, Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Art Park, and Ennis House in Los Feliz, alongside residential clusters in Bungalow Heaven, Pasadena, Highland Park, Los Angeles, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, and Echo Park, Los Angeles. Civic and institutional examples included commissions for the Los Angeles Times Building, alterations at the Union Station site predecessors, and private estates on Angeleno Heights and Mount Washington. Architects from Greene and Greene to Myron Hunt contributed to neighborhoods such as South Pasadena and Beverly Hills, while adaptive reuse projects later involved preservationists linked to Norman Fensterstock and organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Los Angeles Conservancy.

Crafts, Workshops, and Local Industries

Local industries supported pottery studios like Roehr Busk Pottery and tile producers inspired by Ernest Batchelder; metal shops echoed work by Glen Lukens and furniture workshops were connected to the legacy of Gustav Stickley distribution hubs in Downtown Los Angeles. Textile and printmakers interfaced with galleries such as the Pasadena Museum of California Art predecessor groups, and makers participated in fairs hosted by the California Ceramic Annual and exhibitions at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium and Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. Tradespeople included tile artisans from California Brick Company-type firms, masons with ties to Herbert M. Greene projects, and glassworkers affiliated with Judson Studios and independent workshops in Glendale, California and Sierra Madre, California.

Influence on Los Angeles Urban Development and Preservation

The movement influenced residential zoning decisions in early suburbs like Pasadena and transit-oriented development around Pacific Electric lines, shaping lot sizes in areas such as Bungalow Heaven and Highland Park. Preservation efforts later mobilized groups including the Los Angeles Conservancy, the California Historical Society, and preservationists tied to the National Register of Historic Places listings for sites like the Gamble House and Hollyhock House. The aesthetic legacy informed mid-century designs by Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler and continues to appear in restoration projects undertaken by firms with ties to the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Chapter and conservationists trained at UCLA and USC.

Category:Architecture in Los Angeles Category:Arts and Crafts movement