From the course: Graphic Design History: The Arts and Crafts Movement

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Victorian excess

Victorian excess

From the course: Graphic Design History: The Arts and Crafts Movement

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Victorian excess

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- The Victorian era officially began in 1837 when Queen Victoria began her reign in Britain and ended in 1901. We typically imagine a period with a repressed and moralistic population. They were terrified of anything natural. Calling a table leg a limb, because leg was too sexual. But that applied to a small segment of the population. By the time Queen Victoria began her reign the Industrial Revolution had already begun. It was during this period that the most dramatic changes in modern life occurred. The Industrial Revolution brought low living standards for the lower classes, but lead the rise of a growing middle class and self-indulgent nouveau riche, newly rich, class. The acquisition of wealth become a new wide spread cultural force. To reinforce their new position in society members of the nouveau riche developed a desire for ornamentation and ostentatious decoration. If your neighbor had a fancy chair yours should be fancier. This was also the height of the British Empire…

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