Books

Compact Disks

Events/Exhibitions

Film/Video

The Furniture of Gustav Stickley: History, Techniques, Projects

by Joseph J. Bavaro and Thomas L. Mossman.
Fresno CA:Linden Publishing,
1996. ISBN 0-941936-35-X.

and

Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms: The Quest for an Arts and Crafts Utopia

by Mark Alan Hewitt. Syracuse University Press,
Syracuse NY, U.S.A., 2001. ISBN 0-8156-0689-3
Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens,
2022 X Avenue, Dysart,
IA 52224-9767,
U.S.A.
ballast@netins.net

In 1898, Wisconsin-born furniture maker Gustav Stickley visited leaders of the British Arts and Crafts movement in Europe, then returned to make what he described as "Craftsman" furniture, to publish a monthly magazine (The Craftsman), and to develop plans for a utopian artists? colony called Craftsman Farms in Morris Plains, New Jersey. He became immensely influential, emerging as a central force in American Arts and Crafts, by propagating his simple, solid wood furniture, along with his carefully crafted beliefs. In The Furniture of Gustav Stickley, two furniture experts who are also university professors present a concise overview of Stickley?s philosophy and accomplishments, discuss his materials and production methods, and provide detailed construction plans for nine pieces of his Mission-style furniture, among them a recliner (or Morris chair), a rocker, and a combination bookcase and table. In Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms, written by an architectural historian, new information is revealed about the conditions that led to Stickley's tragic, failed attempt, starting in 1911, to found a 650-acre farm and school community, which was initially comprised of a central log cabin for his family, surrounded by guest cottages. Unfortunately, Stickley went bankrupt and was felled by a nervous breakdown, with the result that Craftsman Farms was sold in 1917. In 1989, the site became public property, and has since opened as a museum. (Reprinted by permission from Ballast Quarterly Review 17, No. 1, Fall 2001.)

(Reprinted by permission from Ballast Quarterly Review 17, No. 1, Fall 2001.)

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