Brutalism/Arts and Crafts

A coincidence that I happened to be at the Arts and Crafts show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and then found this Brutalist iron sculpture. Metalwork was the cornerstone of the Arts and Crafts movement. Creating figures and shapes out of iron, copper, etc. was integral to their aesthetic. Opting for more fluid and organic shapes/lines, this sculpture feels like a modernist take on the subject. Definitely seen through more of a Brutalist lens, it still retains the ethos of that movement. We are all accustomed to classifying eras in an attempt to control the narrative/compartmentalize, but in reality it never stops…everything is just a continuation of what came before.