Glass Stained, But Not Broken; An illustrated Connection

I have always found stained glass to be beautiful. Most of the stained glass that I have seen has been in churches.  I have found myself in places such as antique stores where there are often stained glass windows aligned along a wall. A lot of them with the window frame and mostly geometrically shaped images. While perusing my Facebook news feed I found this artist. His work is really beautifully done, especially the black and white drawings. It may be a far reach, but I also noticed some similarities between his work and Erte's work.  Their time periods overlap and perhaps Erte was influenced a bit by Clarke. While there is no evidence of that, after looking at both their work, I found they favored each other. Erte was more about fashion design and he created pieces that were fluid, graceful, dramatic and worn by the stars of his day. But the similarity is in the design of the images, especially the black and white illustrations. The way the women are posed, the detail and intricate design of their clothing. Their contemplative stare, forward or to the side, the boldness in the curves, lines, and details within the entire image.  Clarke's images are more brash, dramatic, stylized character illustrations created for Edgar Allen Poe and others. while Erte is more graceful, theatrical, fluid and bright. Look and compare some of their images, decide for yourself. We can agree to disagree.

Harry Clarke (1889 to 1931) was undoubtedly Ireland’s greatest stained glass artist. Internationally the name of Harry Clarke is synonymous with quality craftsmanship and imaginative genius in his stained glass work. His use of deep rich colors, his delicate depiction of beautiful elongated figures with their finely carved features and deep expressive eyes, is indeed magical to behold. During his short life Harry created over 160 stained glass windows for religious and commercial commissions throughout Ireland and England, and as far as the USA and Australia. Also an illustrator of books for Harrap and Co. in London, Harry illustrated books that show his undoubted genius in the area of graphic art.

Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen his first printed work, however, in 1916—a title that included 16 colour plates and more than 24 monotone illustrations. This was closely followed by  illustrations for an edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination: the first version of that title was restricted to monotone illustrations, while a second iteration with 8 color plates and more than 24 monotone images was published in 1923.

The latter of these made his reputation as a book illustrator (this was during the golden age of gift-book illustration in the first quarter of the twentieth century: Clarke's work can be compared to that of Aubrey Beardsley, Kay Nielsen, and Edmund Dulac). It was followed by editions of The Years at the Spring, containing 12 color plates and more than 14 monotone images; (Lettice D'O. Walters, ed., 1920), Charles Perrault's Fairy Tales of Perrault, and Goethe's Faust, containing 8 color plates and more than 70 monotone and duotone images (New York: Hartsdale House,1925). The last of these is perhaps his most famous work, and prefigures the disturbing imagery of 1960's psychedelia.

Stained glass is central to Clarke's career. His glass is distinguished by the finesse of its drawing, unusual in the medium, his use of rich colours (inspired by an early visit to see the stained glass of the Cathedral of Chartres, he was especially fond of deep blues), and an innovative integration of the window leading as part of the overall design (his use of heavy lines in his black and white book illustrations is probably derived from his glass techniques).

Clarke's stained glass work includes many religious windows but also much secular stained glass. Highlights of the former include the windows of the Honan Chapel in University College Cork, of the latter, a window illustrating John Keats' The Eve of St. Agnes (now in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery in Dublin) and the Geneva Window. Perhaps his most seen work was the windows of Bewley's Café on Dublin's Grafton Street.

Clarke's work was influenced by both the passing Art Nouveau and coming Art Deco movements. His stained glass was particularly informed by the French Symbolist movement. 

Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, the French pronunciation of his initials, R.T. He was a diversely talented 20th-century artist and designer who flourished in an array of fields, including fashion, jewelry, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theater, and opera, and interior décor. 

Erté is perhaps most famous for his elegant fashion designs which capture the art deco period in which he worked. One of his earliest successes was designing apparel for the French dancer Gaby Deslys who died in 1920. His delicate figures and sophisticated, glamorous designs are instantly recognizable, and his ideas and art still influence fashion into the 21st century.

 His costumes, program designs, and sets were featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1923, many productions of the Folies Bergère, and George White's Scandals. On Broadway, the celebrated French chanteuse Irène Bordoni wore Erté's designs.

I think both of these artists are fabulous and are true genius' of their time. While the fashions of Erte's day may be long gone, his influence is still seen on Broadway. 

Now that I've either caused an up roar and I'm totally left field, or maybe I'm on to something.  It's a just something that caught my eye. Maybe I'm intrigued by all the detail and how beautifully the lines flow and curve. I'm a sucker for a nice curve! - Still regardless to which way you lean on this, you have to admit that they are both pretty amazing artist.

Found something new to add to my Steampunk Romantic interests. Dark Beauty Magazine's Steampunk Issue. One can only guess the wonders inside this magazine. I got a sneak peak of the fist couple of pages, but of course, we must support our romantic interests and pay to further dive into this seemingly wonderful issue. Perhaps I will, it may be worth it. Need a steampunk romance booster. Check it out at www.darkbeautymag.com.

Thanks for reading. See you next time at the.....

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