Identity:

Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo was an architect, designer and social reformer.

Life:

Mackmurdo, who was greatly influenced by John Ruskin, was a figure of some significance for the Arts and Crafts Movement. He received his training under the architects T. Chatfield Clarke and James Brooks. About 1883 he formed the Century Guild of Artists with Herbert Horne. In 1890 the two men formed a kind of artistic community at 20 Fitzroy Street, London. He was partially responsible for the founding of the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow.

Mackmurdo first met JW at Richard Doyly Carte's about 1876-80. JW and Oscar Wilde were frequently invited there for dinner. When JW had his first one man show of pictures, 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884, Mackmurdo helped to arrange the scheme. He wrote: 'Drawings hung in white frames on white walls; floor covered with white matting. The slightest touches of colour in a drawing room shone out and caught the eye at once. His etching too appeared brilliant. Mackmurdo attended one of the performances of JW's Ten O'Clock Lecture in 1885.

Bibliography:

Pevsner, Nikolaus, 'Arthur H. Mackmurdo: A Pioneer Designer', Architectural Review, vol. 83, 1938, pp. 141-43; Evans, Stuart, 'A. H. Mackmurdo', Grove Dictionary of Art Online, Oxford, 2003, www.groveart.com (accessed 19 March 2004).