Lectures

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!