George Bryant
“The Most Glorious Stained Glass”: Henry Holiday’s Windows for America
Henry Holiday is unquestionably one of the most important stained glass artists of the Victorian-Edwardian period. He was a determined “modernist” who refused to bend to the medievalist dictates of the Gothic Revival as well as a pioneer and innovator who influenced the development of stained glass design during the Arts & Crafts Movement. He designed windows for churches and buildings around the world, including 120 windows for America. Yet, his reputation in America has long been overshadowed by those of American Glass designers La Farge and Tiffany. I will showcase examples Holiday’s art and discuss the technical and aesthetic differences that set his stained glass apart from that of his contemporaries.
George Bryant is an architect, historian and author from Philadelphia. He began researching the work of Henry Holiday in 1993 as a volunteer for the Philadelphia Census of Stained glass. Since then he has published articles in Architectural History, The Journal of Stained Glass and most recently in the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Common Bond. George has given presentations at national and international conferences and for the Society of Architectural Historians, the Victorian Society of New York and the New York Landmarks Conservancy. He is currently working on a book concerning Henry Holiday’s windows for New York.
