Uncovering the Victorian Art-Workman

Session in the morning followed by visit to David Parr house in the afternoon.

A neglected figure, the Victorian ‘art-workman’ worked largely in a trade context, often as part of a firm supplying skills to leading designers. Hidden within the aesthetic, classed and structural hierarchies of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the art-workman is often ignored in favour of critical accounts that focus on the ambitions and creations of privileged, wealthy men.

This session seeks to uncover the figure of the ‘art-workman’ through critical responses to a short film, ‘The Man Who Painted His House’, (Victoria Mills and Lily Ford, 2025) about the life and work of David Parr, a working-class decorative artist. Parr worked for the firm, Leach and Sons, between 1871-1908 and was commissioned by prominent designers, including William Morris. In 1886 Parr moved to a modest terraced house in Cambridge, which he decorated over forty years with an extraordinary array of hand-painted designs. Parr’s house is now an independent museum.

The session is structured around a screening of the film and ten-minute response papers followed by questions. We invite proposals for papers that examine the the concept of art-workmanship, the relationship between art and labour, artistic legacy, artists’ houses, how gender and class shaped the experience of art-workers (including women), using audio-visual practice for academic research, the relationship between art and film, working with museums, and public engagement. We welcome proposals from scholars and curators working across disciplines (including history, art history, film and media, museum and material culture studies) and we encourage participants to draw on their own research, using the film as a basis to generate questions and prompt debate.

Speakers will be sent a link to view the film ahead of the session.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Dr Victoria Mills, Birkbeck, University of London, v.mills@bbk.ac.uk