Studio: international art (86.1923)

THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL ART

44 THE WHITE HART/' SIGN FOR AN INN
DESIGNED FOR MESSRS. HITCHMANN
AND CO. BY CAPT. W. R. W. KETTLE-
WELL, R.N.; EXECUTED BY H. SMITH
(British Institute of Industrial Art)

students are apparently satisfied to confine
their activities and ambitions solely to very
minor branches of art. Probably they have
not the patience or tenacity to acquire the
technical knowledge and skill necessary for
designing successfully a piece of furniture,
a carpet or a decorative fabric, 0 0

These are industries of prime import-
ance to the public. One welcomed, there-
fore, the enterprise of Messrs. Russell &
Sons, of Broadway, whose exhibit of furni-
ture was courageous and convincing, show-
ing technical efficiency of a high order and
a definite and interesting personal outlook.
Throughout the exhibition one was favour-
ably impressed by the technical excellence
of the work displayed, but in too many
cases there was little or no suggestion of
individual inspiration. The displays of
furniture, for instance, by some of the
older established business houses suggested
a reluctant concession to the growing de-
mand for intelligent modern expression
rather than any inspired conviction on the
part of designer or manufacturer. The need
264

is not so much for entirely new forms as
for the encouragement of the individual
designer’s personality. 000
Among the fabrics shown were quite a
number conspicuously attractive in colour-
ing, and credit is due to manufacturers for
the advance made in this respect, but many
of the designs, apart from the colouring,
were not so satisfactory. 000
One regretted the limited display of floor
coverings. Carpet and linoleum firms might
well stir themselves to some imaginative
experiments for the welfare of the com-
munity. 00000

The pottery shown was varied and at-
tractive, but there was little that is not
already familiar, and again a lack of
imagination was apparent. There were,
however, in this and other sections, scat-
tered throughout the gallery, a sufficient
number of attractive and satisfying objects
to leave one with a general impression of
having spent a brief time in pleasant com-
pany. There was little evidence, perhaps,
of any new and illuminating forces at work
among designers and craftsmen, but one
feels that this collective publicity, if it can
be maintained, must ultimately exert a
healthy influence on industrial enterprise.

CIRCULAR CAST-LEAD TANK. DE-
SIGNED BY GORDON RUSSELL AND
F.E.OSBORNE; EXECUTED BY F.E.
OSBORNE FOR RUSSELL AND SONS
(British Institute of Industrial Art)