RARE, RE-DISCOVERED TIFFANY WINDOWS AT DELAWARE ART MUSEUM

Saturday, 27 October 2007 21:57

Wilmington, DE - The Delaware Art Museum presents In Company with Angels: Seven Tiffany Windows, an exhibition of stained glass angels made in 1902 for a Swedenborgian church in Cincinnati that were displaced when the church was razed in 1964. The Swedenborgian faith is a Christian tradition, based on the writings of 18th century scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, that teaches: the purpose of human life is to prepare to live as angels in heaven, angels are present and contribute to daily life on Earth, and “inwardly, a person is in company with angels, though unaware.”

For 37 years, the boxed eight-foot-tall windows remained in parishioners’ garages and basements in Ohio, traveled in a U-Haul to a Swedenborgian property in Pennsylvania, and rested there in a barn until 2001, when a newly-arrived minister opened the unmarked boxes. Stunned, she called stained-glass expert Arthur Femenella, who recognized Tiffany’s opalescent glass, design, and technique through decades of grime. Church archives confirmed the attribution. In 2004, restoration of the angels began. Cleaning of the last window revealed Tiffany’s signature. In Company with Angels, a nonprofit organization, is now dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of the windows.

The windows will be on view at the Delaware Art Museum through January 31, 2008. They portray the angels from the book of Revelation, who address the early Christian churches of Asia. Each full-length angel holds a gift that God promises if the churches reform their ways. Each angel has a slightly different stance and type of garment, lending individuality to a group united by their flame-like wings against the sky.

In Company with Angels: Seven Tiffany Windows is being displayed alongside the Museum’s Bancroft Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art to complement works with similar narrative qualities and Arts and Crafts inspiration. The Bancroft Collection also goes on view on September 23, following a triumphant two-year tour.

Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) achieved dramatic effects of color, light, and texture in glass by several innovative means. Fusing different colors of glass during the manufacture gave colors an iridescent glow. Pulling and twisting the molten glass produced folds simulating fabric. Thick chunks polished smooth (“glass jewels”) added depth, and faceted edges allowed light to bend and reflect.

At the turn of the 20^th century, Tiffany windows were in great demand for American churches. Given that an estimated 50 percent of Tiffany’s church windows have been lost, re-discoveries—especially of a series—like that of the seven angels is significant for the history of American glass.

The Delaware Art Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Sunday noon – 4:00 p.m. Regular admission is adults (18 – 59) $10, seniors (60+) $8, college students $5, and youth (7 – 17) $3, with children 6 and under entering for free, and admission free to all visitors on Sunday. For more information, call 302-571-9590 or visit the website at www.delart.org

Founded in 1912, the Delaware Art Museum holds a world-renowned collection that focuses on American art and illustration from the 19th to the 21st century as well as the British Pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-19th century. The Museum offers the outdoor Copeland Sculpture Garden, the Helen Farr Sloan Library & Archives, studio art classes, the interactive Kids’ Corner learning area, the delART Café featuring free Wi-Fi access, and the Museum Store with distinctive books and gifts.