Lectures

Modern & Gothic: Charles J. Connick 

Live Autumn Lecture with Peter Cormack

America’s Greatest Stained Glass Artist

When Charles J. Connick (1875-1945) began his stained glass career in the 1890s, America had become so besotted with the newly-invented ‘opalescent’ windows of La Farge and Tiffany that the ancient traditions of the art form had all but been forgotten. Seduced by vulgar pictorialism, designers and craftworkers had ignored both the architectural dimension of stained glass and its essential qualities of light-infused colour. Reacting forcefully against this trend, Connick re-asserted the values of the ancient craft, successfully persuading 20th-century Americans that the medieval tradition could inspire powerfully expressive modern windows.

This lecture will trace Connick’s career from the 1890s in Pittsburgh, through to his first major commissions in the 1900s and the establishment of his own studio in Boston. It will demonstrate how Connick was profoundly influenced by Christopher Whall’s Arts & Crafts philosophy of stained glass, and how he collaborated fruitfully with leading architects, notably Ralph Adams Cram. It will illustrate many of Connick’s important commissions in some of the USA’s most impressive Modern Gothic buildings, such as Princeton University Chapel, San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral and New York’s Cathedral of St John the Divine.

Connick’s regular visits to Europe, where he studied both medieval and modern glass, were a constant stimulus to his creativity, as were his friendships with major figures in other cultural spheres, such as the poet Robert Frost. This will be a comprehensive introduction to Connick’s life and work, the subject of Peter Cormack’s forthcoming book (to be published by Yale University Press in 2024).

The lecture will be at the Art Workers Guild in London on Friday 20th October 2023, so do join us in person for a fascinating lecture by the leading expert on Arts & Crafts stained glass. Entry from 5.30 pm for 6.30 start. There will be a buffet supper following the lecture and a chance to mingle and talk to other stained glass enthusiasts and professionals. Event ends at 9.30 pm. Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.

Back to the Future

A Welcome Return of Apprenticeships – Webinar with Christian Ryan

Please note the new date of Thursday 20th July!

Given the recent ‘Red List’ inclusion for traditional stained glass makers and designers by Heritage Crafts, it is more than ever obvious that we need a stream of new professionals to maintain the vitality in our Art and Craft of stained glass.

For decades, dedicated professionals have worked tirelessly to provide a solid basic training in the core skills that new and emerging craftspeople need to prosper, as individual artists or as conservators.

We are delighted to announce that – through a joint effort by the British Society of Master Glass Painters, the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, volunteer senior professionals and the Institute of Conservation (ICON) – we finally have a dedicated apprenticeship for the stained glass craftsperson. The new qualification is to be delivered by the Swansea Glass School (University of Wales Trinity St David), with end point assessment provided by ICON.

It is essential that we put our support behind the team delivering the qualification, and to that end we are delighted to invite its coordinator Christian Ryan to explain the workings, aspirations and costs of the apprenticeship, with input from Patrick Whife from ICON. Other major contributors to its development will also speak.

This is a highly significant moment – and as such this is an important and not-to-be-missed webinar – for aspiring professionals and for potential employers, whatever the scale of their operation.

We urge the whole stained glass community to attend, and learn how experienced practitioners now have the means to pass on their skills for future generations.

Join us on Thursday 20th July at 7pm on Zoom. Members pay only £4.25 (£5.00 full price) so book now as tickets are limited.

Glass Painters

Live Summer Lecture with Martin Harrison

Leading stained glass historian and author Martin Harrison will talk about the identities and aims of glaziers in the 15th and 19th centuries. With inspiring examples he will explore the historical, sociological, religious and political factors that frame the art and techniques of the glass painters.

The lecture will be at the Art Workers Guild in London on Friday 16th June 2023, so do join us in person for a fascinating lecture. Entry from 5.30 pm for 6.30 pm start. There will be a buffet supper following the lecture and a chance to mingle and talk to other stained glass enthusiasts and professionals. Event ends at 9.30 pm. Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.

Artistic Perspectives on Glass Painting

Zoom lecture with nine artists

The British Society of Master Glass Painters is thrilled to introduce our first technical webinar exploring glass painting.

This exciting new event will delve into the personal relationships between the glass painter and their medium. A rare and inspiring opportunity to hear multiple artists talk about their evolving styles, creative expression, technical processes and unique innovations in the art and craft of glass painting. We will be showcasing some of the sixty artists from the Centenary Touring Exhibition who used painting as the primary technique in their panels, and who did a remarkable job interpreting the medium in a new way. If you missed the exhibition at one of the ten historic venues we visited in 2021-22 then you can see the larger online exhibition here.

The event will be chaired by Julia Gonyou. The featured artists are Ruth Jacobson, Nóra Nagyváradi, Petri Anderson, Veronica Smith, Gwendoline Payne, Gillian McCormick, Refia Sacks and Tamsin Abbott.

Discover a sense of artistic freedom and join us in a whirlwind showcase of a superb group of glass painters.

The Zoom event is on Thursday 13th April at 7pm. Members only pay £4.25 (£5.00 full price) so book now as tickets are limited.

From the Low Countries

Zoom lecture with Steve Clare

The British Society of Master Glass Painters has led in the research and understanding of London glass painters originally from the Low Countries in the 16th and 17th centuries, predominantly through the fantastic work of the late Michael Archer, and the more recent and excellent research by Geoffrey Lane.

Steve Clare has been fortunate to conserve some very significant examples from the period and study them in close quarters. This presentation will set the development of the glass painters and stained glass in the wider European artistic context, and draw parallels with his own heroes in art, with particular emphasis on portrait painters.

Along the way, Steve will discuss major conservation projects including King’s College Chapel and Peterhouse College Chapel in Cambridge, St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, The Vyne and Abbot’s Hospital. There will be plenty of detailed images of this fascinating and beautiful glass to enjoy.

Join us on Thursday 9th February at 7pm for a fascinating talk. Members only pay £4.25 (£5.00 full price) so book now as tickets are limited.

William Wilson: A Scottish Voice in Stained Glass

Rona Moody gives a Zoom lecture on the stained glass of Willie Wilson

William ‘Willie’ Wilson (1905-1972) died 50 years ago, having produced a tremendous body of work,  yet he is scarcely known outside his native Scotland. Although recognised at the time as one of the leading engravers in Scotland in the 20th century and as a producer of rich watercolours, it is his work as a stained glass designer and maker that particularly stands out and has finally begun to be recognised. His sense of colour and meticulous approach to detail set him aside from many of his contemporaries. He was acutely concerned with appropriateness to setting and his sense of place can be seen in his commissions for cathedrals as well as small parish churches.

Although his career was tragically cut short by illness, his support and encouragement for new makers helped ensure that Scotland (as The Scotsman reported), could hold its own amongst the best in the world. This talk looks at his life and career within the context of 20th-century stained glass.

Join us on Thursday 17th November at 7pm  for a fascinating talk. Members only pay £4.25 (£5.00 full price) so book now as tickets are limited.

Moira Forsyth – A Deep Conviction in Glass

Autumn Webinar with Alan Brooks

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Alan Brooks who has been researching the glass of Moira Forsyth over the last few years as a follow-on from his work on the Glass House. During the course of this, he explored her archive at the V&A Archive of Art & Design before it became unavailable due to the rehousing of the collection, and has visited many of the locations for which she made windows.

Moira Forsyth (1905-91) was a very talented painter, ceramic designer and stained glass artist. She became one of the most distinctive of the 20th Century traditionalist stained glass designers, in work that stretched over a long 50-year career, most of which was associated with the Glass House in Fulham. She made windows for over 50 locations, including the cathedrals of Norwich, Guildford, Bradford and St Paul’s in London. She had a deep conviction in the power of artistic expression through glass in its beauty and colour, ‘one of the most exciting mediums….yet one of the most difficult to control’.

The photo shows part of a 1968 appliqué panel of St Christopher for St Paul’s Cathedral.

Join us on Friday 16th September at 7pm (not the previously advertised time of 6pm) for a fascinating talk. Members only pay £4.25 (£5.00 full price) so book now as tickets are limited.

Centenary Birthday Party

We return to our home at the Art Workers Guild, after a break of two years, with an event to celebrate a hundred and one years of the Master Glass Painters with a sparkling reception, buffet dinner, birthday cake and with Alf Fisher and Peter Cormack as our keynote speakers who will share their knowledge of our rich history. Peter’s talk will be ‘Reflections on the Past and Future of British Stained Glass’, and Alf will talk about ‘Memorable Characters in the Society and how we have Faced Changes.’

The event will include a raffle to raise funds for the AGBI. The Artists General Benevolent Institution was set up by the painter JMW Turner to support artists who have fallen on hard times. It is more relevant than ever in the current climate. The raffle will have prizes for stained glass lovers and tickets are available here for those who can’t attend.

So dust off those glad rags and dress to impress and join us for a fun evening to reunite with old friends and with our stained glass community.

Friday 1 July 6.15pm at the Art Workers Guild. Tickets £38.25 for members (£45 non-members). You can add an additional donation to the AGBI as you check out of the shop. Your donations, however small, are very gratefully received!

Spaces are limited and selling fast. Book now to avoid disappointment as bookings can’t be taken on the day.

Stained Glass Conservation Webinar

The Role of the Cathedral Architect

We are delighted to host the second in our conservation-themed webinars with two of our leading cathedral architects, Camilla Finlay AABC, and Antony Feltham-King, RIBA, Grad Dipl Cons AA, AABC.

From Wales with Love

Online lecture with Catrin Jones

We are delighted to welcome Welsh stained glass artist Catrin Jones to give our spring lecture to coincide with the Centenary Touring exhibition visiting Swansea.

‘I have been blessed to have been able to spend my creative career working with light, glass and narratives for public architecture. Having begun my training at Swansea College of Art under Tim Lewis in the late seventies, I benefited from the notion that Wales was at the centre of something unique and international – an outlook I consider to have been a great gift, which has sustained my unquenchable  enthusiasm and love of this most alchemical of disciplines.’

Tickets are only £4.25 for members and all profits will be donated to help the people of Ukraine. So do join us on Friday 25th March at 7pm for a fascinating delve into Catrin’s extensive career. Spaces are limited so make sure you book your ticket now.

Online Lecture January 2022 – John Piper

The Role of Stained Glass in John Piper’s Life and Work with Professor Frances Spalding CBE

The first online lecture of 2022 coincides with the Centenary touring exhibition visiting All Saints Church in Bristol where John Piper made some extraordinary windows. We are fortunate to have the leading expert on his work, Frances Spalding, to share her knowledge with us.

Stained Glass in the City

Post-war stained glass in the City of London with Alexandra Epps

Autumn Lecture 2021

Australia’s Stained Glass: Short History… Long Story
Our International theme continues with a lecture by Dr Bronwyn Hughes on the stained glass of Australia.

Through a selection of stained glass windows installed in Australian architecture, this webinar will explore British connections and influence from the 1850s onwards, as both countries were changed by depression, war and economic circumstance. Stained glass, seen by many as simply decorative, was an outcome of society’s fluctuations and can be viewed as documents of art, architectural, and religious history.

We look forward to learning more about how the discovery of gold brought artists and artisans to enhance the building boom it spawned. Join us for this fascinating talk.

Tickets are only £5 (£4.25 for members). Friday 10th September at 7pm. Tickets are limited so book now!

Summer Lecture 2021

Stained Glass in America with Julie Sloan

With almost 40 years of stained glass conservation experience in the United States, Julie Sloan will bring us a fascinating lecture on stained glass from across The Pond. The art has evolved over the last two hundred years and the talk will feature all the greats such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Charles Connick and Frank Lloyd Wright as well as a host of other artists. Don’t miss this overview from a renowned author of many books on stained glass.

Tickets are only £5 so join us on Friday 11th June at 7pm for this enlightening talk. Tickets are limited so book now!

Collaboration Between Conservation Disciplines

Online Webinar

As part of our continuing Centenary celebrations we are holding a conservation themed webinar which will explore the collaboration between conservation disciplines. We are fortunate indeed to have three very distinguished speakers:

Sara Crofts, Chief Executive of The Institute for Conservation (Icon), will introduce the event, followed by presentations from Tobit Curteis, and Robyn Pender.

Sara Crofts trained as an architect at Edinburgh College of Art, specialising in building conservation and is an SPAB Lethaby Scholar. She is member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She is a Council Member of Europa Nostra and Chair of Europa Nostra UK. Sara’s views, as a key strategic planer in UK conservation, will be of great interest.

Dr. Robyn Pender is a Senior Building Conservation Adviser in Historic England’s Policy and Evidence directorate. Robyn has been very involved in developing research projects related to the conservation of stained glass, including major cathedral schemes, and will bring her great depth of knowledge and tremendous enthusiasm to bear in describing her work.

Tobit Curteis ACR works as a consultant for Historic England, and is the Advisor on Wall Paintings for the National Trust. Following a degree in the History of Art at Warwick University, Tobit undertook his postgraduate training in the conservation of wall paintings at the Courtauld Institute of Art, in conjunction with the Getty Conservation Institute, subsequently working in Florence and Rome. In parallel with his work on historic wall paintings, Tobit has, for over twenty years, been developing environmental survey and monitoring techniques for historic buildings, with a particular emphasis on stained glass.

We look forward to an illuminating account of the developing and valuable working relationship between conservators, stained glass conservators and conservation scientists.

Tickets for this extended webinar are still only £5 so join us on Friday 14th May at 6pm GMT for this enlightening talk. Tickets are limited so book now!

Fifty Years of the Master Glass Painters and Much More

Online Webinar with Alfred Fisher MBE, FMGP

We are delighted to welcome back Alf Fisher to an online Webinar about his many years of stained glass and his memories of some of the characters from the British Society of Master Glass Painters history.

Alfred Fisher has produced stained glass windows of the highest order for over six decades, and his legacy of work can be found in some of the most prestigious buildings in the land including Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Chequers and the Guildhall. Alf began his career at Whitefriars Studio in the 1950s, where he was an early pioneer of fusing glass for architectural settings and became their last Chief Designer before co-founding Chapel Studio with Peter Archer in 1973. He is a past Chairman and Hon. Secretary of the Society and now Vice-President. In our centenary year, he will talk about some of the people he recalls from sixty years ago and the influences on his own work, from Erwin Bossanyi to John Piper and John Hutton.

Tickets are only £5 so join us on Friday 12th March at 7pm GMT for this enlightening talk. Tickets are limited so book now!

Keep Calm and Think About Glass

Online Webinar with Judith Schaechter

We are delighted to welcome Judith Schaechter FMGP to launch our Centenary year with an online Webinar about her artwork. Thirty-seven years ago Judith graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in glass and has never lost her passion for the medium of stained glass as a fine art form. Ever fascinated with the mechanics of how inspiration travels from spark to material and how ideas are developed into object and/or pictorial form, Judith will discuss how these ephemeral creative processes manifest in her work. Judith may even answer the often unspoken question: ‘Why is your work so weird?’

Judith lives and works in Philadelphia PA and her work is included in international collections including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Hermitage in Russia. Her work is currently the subject of a travelling retrospective exhibition organized by the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery of Rochester, NY.

Tickets are only £5 so join us on Friday 29th January at 7pm GMT for this enlightening talk. Tickets are limited so book now!

The Magic Lantern

Online Webinar with Steve Clare

The Society is pleased to announce that the chairman of our Conservation Working Group, Steve Clare, will speak about the fascinating painted glass of the 18th century, and the transitional period into the early 19th century. The speaker has unrivalled experience in the conservation of glass of this period; the techniques and methods of important figures such as Peckitt, Pearson, and Eginton will be discussed in detail, with superb images taken during live conservation projects.

Tickets are only £5 so join us on Friday 27th November at 7pm for this enlightening talk. Tickets are limited so book now!

Autumn Lecture 2020

Matthew Reeves – Stained Glass at an Intersection – Church, Gallery & Museum

An expert in lost medieval stained glass from France, Matthew Reeves is a curator who now works at the Sam Fogg gallery in London. His lecture will explore the relationships between the Church, commercial art galleries and museums. Matthew has been working with museums to help raise the profile of stained glass, something we are all keen to achieve.

Do join us on Zoom for a visually rich evening as Matthew shares his expertise and love of Medieval and Renaissance stained glass. Tickets cost £5.00 to non-members and £4.25 for members. Places are limited so book now!

Summer Lecture 2020

Frans Wesselman – Godiva and the Art of Storytelling  CANCELLED

Intriguing and beguiling, Frans Wesselman’s stained glass art draws you into a world of stories and characters. His etchings and woodcuts explore similar themes on paper. We will hear how Frans switches between media and learn about his glass painting techniques, where his inspiration comes from and about his Godiva windows that tell the story of Coventry’s history.

Do join us for a fascinating evening with an artist whose unique vision inspires a loyal following. Frans will bring some of his original artworks to the lecture.

Spring Lecture 2020

Christopher Webb – Popular, Prolific, Profound

One of the most respected stained glass artists of his generation, Webb’s reputation plummeted after his death in 1966. While recognising his skill in design and draughtsmanship, commentators have disparaged his windows as anaemic or anachronistic. This lecture by John Edwards uses the archive of Webb’s design sketches and full-size cartoons, together with evidence from a newly-compiled list of his stained glass windows and other artworks to confront these views. What emerges from Webb’s long career is far greater diversity than the caricatures suggest, and a unique legacy.

John has promised to bring some of the artist’s original sketches to the Art Workers Guild so do join us for a visual treat and a fascinating evening. And if you have never tried the buffet supper, it is well worth staying for.

Autumn Lecture 2019 Imported Continental Glass in Kent Churches

Our Hon. Librarian Leslie Smith will be talking about the Flemish, Swiss, and perhaps German, stained glass roundels in the churches of his home county of Kent. The distribution of imports was random, because of the geographical spread of their collectors, so although small in number, local studies can be of value.

He will describe the Northern European roundels listed by William Cole in the 1993 Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Catalogue and examine their provenance, their import and sale and their collectors, as well as the sources for their designs and mainly biblical subjects. Swiss glass from the seventeenth century will also be discussed, plus a diversion to look at a previously uncatalogued country house collection.

Summer Lecture 2019 Martin Donlin

Reflections on 30 years of Glass

Speaker Martin Donlin

We are delighted that the award winning architectural glass artist Martin Donlin will be giving the Summer Lecture.

Martin has been working in glass, colour and light since his student days in Swansea. He is a consummate  artist, comfortable with the decoration of enormous spaces in public as well as private buildings worldwide.

Somehow he is able to include complex imagery and information within a radiantly beautiful addition to almost any style of building using glass each time to suit and enhance the space.

This lecture will be a fascinating learning curve for us all.

Spring lecture 2019

Adrian Barlow’s new book Espying Heaven: The Stained Glass of Charles Eamer Kempe and his Artists offers a detailed discussion of Kempe’s work, with a strong focus on particular windows, themes and relationships. Analysis of C.E. Kempe’s stained glass in the context of contemporary firms, such as Morris & Co., Burlison & Grylls, Christopher Whall, etc., enriches our understanding and evaluation of his legacy and standing today.

Adrian will be giving the BSMGP Spring Lecture at the Art Workers Guild and will share his in-depth knowledge of the windows of C. E. Kempe’s prolific firm with an audience who may already have strong ‘marmite’ opinions. An interesting evening is in store! Do join us.

Copies of Espying Heaven will be for sale on the night.

Autumn Lecture 2018

Theodora Salusbury: The Peacock Lady (1875-1956)
Speaker: Andrew Loutit

As a pupil of both Christopher Whall and Karl Parsons, Theodora Salusbury’s work is predictably colourful, but it is also characterised by her excellent drawing skills to produce particularly lifelike figures in her stained glass. She remains a relatively unknown artist and Andrew, her great-nephew, is seeking to establish a reputation more deserving of these skills.

500 Years of Stained Glass with Martin Harrison

In Suffolk Martin Harris has been trying to identify workshops, other than the well-known ones in Norwich, responsible for the region’s stained glass in the 15th century. This connects to local glass-painters in the early 19th century whose restorations of medieval glass have seldom been identified. Martin brings his findings to the Art Workers Guild and  shares them with the audience.