
Charles J. Connick
America's Visionary Stained Glass Artist
Peter Cormack(Author)
Yale University Press
Published on 14. May 2024
Book
Hardback
376 pages
978-0-300-27232-1 (ISBN)
Description
The first comprehensive account of Charles J. Connick, America's most innovative and influential stained glass artist working in the first half of the twentieth century
When Charles J. Connick (1875-1945) began his stained glass career in Pittsburgh in the 1890s, America's fascination with the newly invented "opalescent" windows of Tiffany and La Farge meant that the original traditions of the art form were almost forgotten. Connick made it his life's mission to reassert the values of the medieval craft, successfully persuading twentieth-century Americans that these could inspire powerfully expressive modern glass as well as thrilling new imagery.
This book presents the dynamic trajectory of Connick's artistic development. Refuting any notion of Connick as a revivalist, Peter Cormack examines the diverse cultural influences that shaped Connick's art, including his creative interaction with European stained glass and his friendship with poets such as Robert Frost. Richly illustrated and based on decades of research, it analyzes Connick's work in the context of the Arts and Crafts and "Modern Gothic" movements in architecture and the applied arts, showcasing stained glass works found throughout some of the most spectacular buildings in the United States, including New York's St. John the Divine Cathedral and San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. His fruitful collaborations with Ralph Adams Cram, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, Maginnis & Walsh, and other leading architects are also documented in detail.
When Charles J. Connick (1875-1945) began his stained glass career in Pittsburgh in the 1890s, America's fascination with the newly invented "opalescent" windows of Tiffany and La Farge meant that the original traditions of the art form were almost forgotten. Connick made it his life's mission to reassert the values of the medieval craft, successfully persuading twentieth-century Americans that these could inspire powerfully expressive modern glass as well as thrilling new imagery.
This book presents the dynamic trajectory of Connick's artistic development. Refuting any notion of Connick as a revivalist, Peter Cormack examines the diverse cultural influences that shaped Connick's art, including his creative interaction with European stained glass and his friendship with poets such as Robert Frost. Richly illustrated and based on decades of research, it analyzes Connick's work in the context of the Arts and Crafts and "Modern Gothic" movements in architecture and the applied arts, showcasing stained glass works found throughout some of the most spectacular buildings in the United States, including New York's St. John the Divine Cathedral and San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. His fruitful collaborations with Ralph Adams Cram, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, Maginnis & Walsh, and other leading architects are also documented in detail.
Reviews / Votes
"In this beautifully designed and stunningly illustrated book, Cormack, a former curator at the William Morris Gallery and the leading scholar of Arts and Crafts stained glass, traces Connick's professional career."-Peyton Skipwith, Literary Review"All lovers of stained glass will be grateful to Cormack for his exemplary study and passionate advocacy of Connick's work."-Peter Howell, Art Newspaper
"An indispensable contribution to the history of stained glass, placing Connick in the forefront of our great artists, where he belongs."-Julie L. Sloan, DAS
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
297 color + b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 292 mm
Width: 256 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
2164 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-27232-1 (9780300272321)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Peter Cormack is a noted scholar of post-medieval British and American stained glass, William Morris, and the Arts and Crafts Movement. He is author of a number of books, including Arts & Crafts Stained Glass.