Above Image: Curator Rolf Achilles at the Opening Reception of New Installation
of  22  American Victorian Stained Glass Windows at Macy’s Pedway.

New Installation  of  22 American Victorian Stained Glass Windows

Opening Reception: Dec 9, 2013

Location: Macy’s underground Pedway, Chicago Loop.

 

This pioneering Exhibit is presented by Macy’s in cooperation with the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, The Chicago Cultural Mile Association and generous donors.

The generous  donors  include:  The Chicago Cultural Mile Association, Macy’s, Northern Trust,  Exelon,  BMO Harris Bank, The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, Prince Charitable Trusts, The Buchanan Family Foundation, Susan Crown and William C. Kunkler III, Chauncey and Marion D. McCormick Family Foundation.

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Macy’s Pedway Installation of American Victorian Stained Glass

Pioneering Exhibit..click here..
Documentation of the Exhibits.. click here..
Opening Reception..click here..

Chicago: Art Glass.. click here..

 

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This exhibit continues Chicago’s long time tradition of museum-quality art in public spaces.  Art that educates the public ,while bringing beauty to the public space…  Instead of insisting that public come to a large museum building, art itself is placed in a location where millions of people go everyday in their daily lives.  Stained glass is a perfect medium for this. Not only it is tough, it is glass but it is meant to face rain, snow, sleet and hail, so it doesnt need very careful humidity control that so many [painting] masterpieces need, but, in addition, stained glass is sophisticated because of its artistic history. [E.B.Smith]

 

 

It is important that you look closely at the windows because you are going to see abstractions from the 1880s and 1890s. At a time when painters were not doing this yet, they were still caught up in figurative works, especially in the United States and in Europe. And the window that you see here, are the type of window which the Europeans then copied  from America. We always think that America has been copying everything from Europe.  But NO. Painting on glass is one of the things American did, but also,  they stained the glass, and  used ornamentation on glass, they added jewels, they added large chunks of glass. We have a superb example of this type of work. Look at the jewels, the facet of jewels were cut by diamonds and then chunks of glass were cast. This is uniquely American in the 1880s and 1890s.  It was only around late 1890s and 1900s when the European started doing this, and then it is called  Art Nouveau and everyone gets excited. But in the US,  we were doing it in advance. We have superb windows in this display, they are world quality, internationally important individual windows and I hope you look at them very closely.  [Exhibit Curator Rolf Achilles]

 

 

Below is a 13 minute video of the all the speeches at the Opening Reception..

 

 

The impressive list of speakers included [in the order in which they appear].. Ralph V. Hughes [VP Macy’s External Affairs/Corporate Communication], Sharene Shariatzedeh [from Chicago Cultural Mile], E.B.Smith, Rolf Achilles [Exhibit curator], Roland Lieber [architect who designed the installation], Ettore Christopher Botti [of Botti Studio of Architectural Arts, Evanston] and Bob Fioretti [Chicago Alderman].

 

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The Exhibit Team:
Stained Glass Conservation, Restoration and Exhibition Wall fabrication: Botti Studio of Architectural Arts, Evanston, IL
Architecture/ Project Design: Roland Lucien Lieber
Exhibit Curator: Rolf Achilles

 

 

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RELATED LINKS..

Pioneering Exhibit..click here..
Documentation of the Exhibit.. click here..
Opening Reception..click here..

Chicago: Art Glass.. click here..

 

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