ASPECTS OF 20TH CENTURY STAINED GLASS
Following the successful 2005 conference Glass-Painting 1800-1900: Aesthetics, History, Conservation, the British Society of Master Glass Painters in conjunction with the Worshipful Company of Glaziers of London has organised a second international two-day conference. Featuring eminent speakers from the UK, Europe and the USA, lectures will present a wide-ranging historical overview of the far-reaching developments in stained glass which took place throughout the 20th century.

Glaziers Hall, London Bridge, London SE1 31 July-1August 2008

MORNING SESSION chaired by Caroline Benyon FMGP, BSMGP Chairman
8:30­9:15 9:20­9:30 9:30­10:30

DAY ONE ­ THURSDAY 31 JULY

PROGRAMME

10:30­11:30

11:30­12:00 12:00­1:00

1:00­2:00

REGISTRATION Introduction to session by Chairman Julie L. Sloan MSc Crystallization of Form: The Stained Glass of the Prairie School In 1908, Midwestern American architect Thomas Eddy Tallmadge concisely published the characteristics of what he called `The Chicago School', better known today as the Prairie School. Admitting that there was no `set grammar', he enumerated certain consistencies found in its buildings, including the ubiquitous leaded-glass window: `In the domain of glass work we find perhaps the nearest approach to a crystallization of form, in the use of straight lines; clear glass with small square dots of gold, white, or color being well-nigh universal'. As perhaps the first modern architectural movement in America, it may seem odd that it clung to the 19th-century predilection for stained glass. But comparisons of Prairie School stained glass with other modern styles in Europe will demonstrate that, for at least the first twenty years of the 20th century, stained glass was considered a very modern art form. Dr Libby Horner Frank Brangwyn: Stained Glass Frank Brangwyn was the quintessential artist-craftsman, but few of those familiar with his work are aware that he produced designs for stained glass throughout his career, begin ning with six panels commissioned by Siegfried Bing in 1899 and made by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Other works include four windows in an obscure Berkshire church, a war memorial in Northampton, a memoral to a boy suffering from Down's syndrome in Devon, two windows in memory of Lord Iveagh (of Guinness fame) which can be seen in Dublin and Elveden, and a single lancet and five double lancets at St Andrew's Abbey, Zevenkerken, Bruges. Details of the politics which informed the designs and Brangwyn's working methods will be discussed. TEA/COFFEE Michael Barker A Survey of 20th-Century Stained Glass in France from the end of the Belle Époque to Abstraction Destruction caused by two World Wars led to a huge production of stained glass by talented artists both figurative and abstract.This survey will examine the roots of modernism stemming from Samuel Bing's commissions from Nabis artists; the impetus of the Art Sacré movement spurred on by Maurice Denis; the influence of the new Art Deco style in the 1920s; and the dynasties of stained glass makers based at historic centres such as Chartres and their creative collaboration with renowned painters including Matisse, Braque, Léger, Rouault, Chagall and Miró. LUNCH

AFTERNOON SESSION chaired by Martin Harrison FSA, HonFMGP
2:00­2:10 2:10­3:10

3:10­3:45 3:45­4:45

EVENING SESSION Glaziers Lecture
6:15 for 6:45

Introduction to session by Chairman Dr Iris Nestler The Influence of Modern Art on Glass in Germany Bruno Taut's Glass House at the 1914 Werkbund exhibition in Cologne was an early demonstration of how glass-painting and architecture coalesce.The subsequent period between Taut and Johan Thorn-Prikker on the one hand and Heinz Mack's architectonic utopia on the other is marked by strong contrasts. As in autonomous art, there is the same development towards abstraction. Any study of glass painting in the second half of the 20th century, and in particular the three post-war decades, inevitably goes back to Thorn-Prikker and raises a number of questions: What actually happened from the 1900s onwards? Were there in fact regressions in this period? How do the achievements of Thorn-Prikker and Georg Meistermann differ? 20th-century German stained glass encom passed Art Nouveau, Expressionist, Surrealist, Constructivist, Bauhaus as well as very painterly tendencies. As this paper will illustrate, it also embraced lyrical abstraction, optical kinetics and gestural painting. TEA/COFFEE Wilhelm Derix with Andrea McKay Glass as `Fine Art in Architecture' from the Second Half of the 20th Century to the Beginning of the 21st Derix Glass Studios can look back over a 150-year history working with more than 1000 artists worldwide. In the 1970s the `great British-German alliance' began, with British artists and the Studio developing a strong working relationship and realizing a great many projects. We will examine the role of the Studio in achieving an artist's concept and vision and the diverse range of artists requiring different techniques and approaches.This led to pushing new boundaries of techniques and technology. This paper will also cover the development of commissions from ecclesiastical art to the growing number of public art projects and the use of Art Glass in architecture. Our aim has always been that Art in Glass will be accepted as a Fine Art discipline, on the same level as painting, sculpture, etc. Recent trends reveal that Fine Art painters such as Gerhard Richter and Prof M. Lüpertz turn to glass as an alternative medium ­ and the Studio is required to translate their ideas, visions and concepts.The time now seems right for great painters again to have an impact on Glass Art.

8:00 p.m.

Artist ALEXANDER BELESCHENKO discusses his work and the ideas that have influenced him, offering in-depth insights into the thought processes and practices employed when working with glass in architecture, both for private commissions and public competitions. BUFFET SUPPER HELD IN RIVER ROOM, GLAZIERS HALL

DAY TWO ­ FRIDAY 1 AUGUST
MORNING SESSION chaired by Peter Cormack FSA
9:30­09:45 9:45­10:45 Introduction to session by Chairman Patrick Reyntiens OBE The Vital Exchange Examining the interconnection of vision, imagination and teaching which has benefited both the arts of painting and stained glass. TEA/COFFEE

10:45­11:15

11:15­12:15

12:15­12:45

12:45­2:00

Dr Donald Buttress LVO OBE New Wine in Old Bottles (Or New Glass in Old Windows) A discussion, illustrated by examples, on the overriding need to respect the setting of a window, taking account of geometry, lead patterns, colour, scale and the density of painted detail, in order to achieve an overall textural and tonal balance. In the past,William Peckitt of York, Betton and Evans of Shrewsbury and the prolific C. E. Kempe were able to make tactful alterations and rearrangements, and to add vibrant new material, whilst achieving a harmonious result. Without that skill and care a new window in an old setting can be, and quite often is, a visual disaster! Julie L. Sloan MSc Restoring the Whitefriars Windows in St Thomas's Church, New York Julie Sloan is the Consultant for an ambitious project to restore and conserve the major scheme of stained glass made by James Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) for Saint Thomas's Church, Fifth Avenue, New York.With 8600 square feet of glass, and the involvement of twelve conservation studios, this will be the largest restoration project of its type ever undertaken in the United States. LUNCH

AFTERNOON SESSION chaired by David Ball, Master of the Glaziers Company
2:00­2:10 2:10­3:10

3:10­3:45 3:45­4:45

Introduction to session by Chairman Peter Cormack FSA Teaching Stained Glass in the Arts & Crafts Era: `a single grain of wheat, not a whole ear of corn' The Arts & Crafts Movement which originated in England in the late 19th century had a transforming impact on the teaching of stained glass for over half a century. For the first time, it introduced workshop practice into the education system alongside designing skills, and it reinvigorated the idea of apprenticeship ­ for women as well as men.This paper looks at how Christopher Whall and his followers taught the craft, and with what results. TEA/ COFFEE Martin Harrison FSA The Persistence of Gothic Interest in English 20th-century stained glass has tended to focus on the Arts & Crafts Movement or its avant-garde offshoots. Nevertheless, until the 1960s most of the stained glass supplied to churches followed more conservative idioms, rooted in the Late Gothic of Burlison & Grylls and C. E. Kempe.This talk will consider Comper, the Webbs and others who continued the medieval tradition in relation to the relatively few designers who aligned themselves with Modernism and sought an abrupt break with the past. End of Conference

PLEASE NOTE Time for discussion follows each presentation. Copies of The Journal of Stained Glass (featuring contributions by some of the conference speakers) will be on sale during all breaks. Poster sessions to promote research in the area of 20th-century stained glass will be available ­ please indicate if you are interested in participating when booking. Conference fee includes all refreshments noted above, except for the Buffet Supper held in the River Room following the Glaziers Lecture on the first day which must be booked in advance (see form). For conference application forms and further information please visit www.bsmgp.org.uk or contact C20conference@bsmgp.org.uk