Tag: Quote Of The Week

“What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.”
  – John Ruskin 1819-1900

Longtime professor of art at Oxford College, Ruskin’s influence on 19^th and early 20^th century art and architecture was profound. His popular books The Stones of Venice and The Seven Lamps of Architecture had their effect on Le Corbusier, Wright and Gropius, among others. He championed of the works of JWM Turner and the Pre-Raphaelite School setting the tone for a return to natural forms that prefigured the Arts and Crafts Movement. Proust, Tolstoy, and Gandhi round out an international assemblage who admired Ruskin for his poetry and Christian Socialist philosophy.

Greg Bover

"When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package."

John Ruskin (1819-1900)

An Oxford graduate, Ruskin was the pre-eminent art and achitecture critic of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. His support of then modern painters such as landscapist J. M. W. Turner created much controversy, as did his criticism of others such as James Whistler. Ruskin’s hugely influential books on architecture, The Seven Lamps of Architecture and The Stones of Venice expound on social thought and morality while they dis Classical design and cheer on the Gothic Revival. Many of his ideas on social justice and the importance of work pre-figure William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. 

Greg Bover

Click the picture for the Ruskin Wikipedia page