CHARLES CONNICK: AMERICA’S VISIONARY STAINED GLASS ARTIST

Some (perhaps many) may be surprised to hear that Charles J. Connick (1875–1945) was, in Peter Cormack’s audacious and learned opinion, America’s greatest stained-glass artist. They will have thought it was Louis Comfort Tiffany, or John La Farge. This magnificent volume, meticulously researched, appealingly penned, and handsomely illustrated, is an important contribution to the history of stained glass.

Connick was a forceful opponent of Tiffany ‘picture windows’ in opalescent glass. As such, he came to the attention of architect Ralph Adams Cram, the foremost US advocate of Gothic architecture in the early 20th century. Cram was so impressed with Connick’s deep understanding of medieval stained glass that he supported his early studies in Europe and lent him money to open his own stained-glass studio in Boston in 1913. Connick soon garnered some of the most important religious commissions of the period, as well as many non-religious ones.

Cormack lays out Connick’s life and work in engaging text and good illustrations, although these tend to be quite dark, as is the stained glass. In-depth analysis of his correspondence, design processes and materials reveals Connick’s genius for the medium. A rich archive of Connick material, including project records, correspondence, and window panels, survives, and Cormack has created a cogent and interesting narrative.

If there is a fault in the book it is that it is too short. The quantity of Connick’s output is mind-boggling, and Cormack is only able to discuss fully the most important projects, and unable to give much space to the 30-odd years’ worth of work by Connick Associates, as the studio was called after Connick’s death. Historical context is limited. But the book is massive and thorough and places Connick in the forefront of our great stained-glass artists, where he belongs.

Peter Cormack, Yale Unversity Press, 2024, hb £60

Condensed from a review by Julie L. Sloan in DAS Newsletter No. 133