GEOFFREY CLARKE APPEAL



Geoffrey Clarke RA Stained Glass Appeal



Through the Eyes of the Conservator

Thanks to a successful Appeal the Stained Glass Museum recently acquired four stained glass panels by the significant twentieth-century British stained glass artist Geoffrey Clarke, RA (b. 1924). The four unique stained glass panels: (1) Saint Anthony; (2) Priest; (3) Saint Sebastian (all dated 1949); and (4) Fragment (dated circa 1956-59), represent Clarke’s early work in stained glass, and demonstrate the strong abstract and experimental sculptural nature of his designs.

These modern stained glass panels are a major addition to The Stained Glass Museum’s collection of British stained glass. Geoffrey Clarke, RA, was one of the stained glass artists who worked on the pioneering modern glazing project at Coventry Cathedral in 1957-62, producing three of the nave windows, alongside fellow students Keith New. Geoffrey Clarke is a respected Royal Academician who represented Great Britain at the International Biennale Exhibition in Venice three times,

This blog documents the conservation of these modern stained glass panels by two experienced trainee Conservators at York Glazier’s Trust, a leading ICON-accredited conservation studio. It aims to provides another means of interpreting stained glass through the eyes of the conservator, and to showcase twenty-first century conservation practice.

Conservation of four modern stained glass panels by Geoffrey Clarke, RA (b.1925) is documented in our Geoffrey Clarke blog.


Success in fundraising to purchase stained glass works by Geoffrey Clarke



Thanks to grants from The V&A Purchase Grant Fund, The Art Fund, The Headley Trust, The Matthew Wrightson Charitable Trust, The Decorative Arts Society (DAS), and several generous individual donors, The Stained Glass Museum has raised £15,000 to purchase four stained glass panels by the significant twentieth-century British stained glass artist Geoffrey Clarke, RA (b. 1924). Geoffrey Clarke, RA, was one of the stained glass artists who worked on the pioneering modern glazing project at Coventry Cathedral in 1957-62, producing three of the nave windows. The acquisition of these panels by Clarke, a respected Royal Academician who represented Great Britain at the International Biennale Exhibition in Venice three times, are fantastic additions to The Stained Glass Museum’s collection.


Geoffrey Clarke
Figure in a Landscape ‘St Anthony’, 1949.
Black and white photograph of stained glass (painted), 53 x 220cm (framed: 64 x 230cm)

All four of the stained glass panels (three of which date to 1949, while the fourth, Fragment, is dated 1956-59) reveal different influences, demonstrating how Clarke combined stained glass, mosaic and sculptural techniques to produce unique artworks.

Priest (front), 1949
Glass mosaic set in plaster
56 x 36cm

Fragment, 1956-59
Glass, lead, aluminium
91.4 x 73 x 15.2cm

Saint Sebastian, 1949
Stained glass
40.5 x 24.5 x 7.2cm
 

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