Nature

Artist Judith (Anita) Schaechter (American, b. 1961)

Date2010

DimensionsWork: 27 × 42 in. (68.6 × 106.7 cm)
Light Box Frame: 30 3/4 x 46 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (78.1 x 118.1 x 16.5 cm.)

MediumStained glass, cut, sandblasted, engraved, painted, and assembled with copper foil. Colorless, red, blue, blue-green, orange, gold, purple, and brown glasses, cut, plated, and assembled; black and brown enamel and grisaille painting; copper foil.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Ann W. Hartmann and Frank Snug

Object number

2012.15

Not on View

DescriptionThe rectangular stained glass panel depicts a female figure in a white garment with ruffled edge, reclining on a Victorian chaise longue (daybed) in a room covered in a dark wallpaper with scattered red leaves. The honeycomb pattern of the yellow tile floor is echoed in the shiny blue upholstery fabric of the chaise. A large crystal vase displaying a tall bouquet of multi-colored flowers and leaves is the only other object in the room. The scene is presented as if set on a stage, with a central picture window looking out onto a garden scene. The view through the six-paned window is divided into two horizontal zones of a mottled golden sky with five birds in flight above a dense hedge of green leaves and yellow flowers that is vertically bisected by thin red twigs. Details including the figure, the flower bouquet, and the birds are plated for a more complex effect of spatial depth. The narrow white window frame with black floral pattern echoes in the overall frame of the stained glass panel, which is set off by a narrow red outline with mottled decoration bordering the scene. The rectangular stained glass panel depicts a female figure in a white garment with ruffled edge, reclining on a Victorian chaise longue (daybed) in a room covered in a dark wallpaper with scattered red leaves. The honeycomb pattern of the yellow tile floor is echoed in the shiny blue upholstery fabric of the chaise. A large crystal vase displaying a tall bouquet of multi-colored flowers and leaves is the only other object in the room. The scene is presented as if set on a stage, with a central picture window looking out onto a garden scene. The view through the six-paned window is divided into two horizontal zones of a mottled golden sky with five birds in flight above a dense hedge of green leaves and yellow flowers that is vertically bisected by thin red twigs. Details including the figure, the flower bouquet, and the birds are plated for a more complex effect of spatial depth. The narrow white window frame with black floral pattern echoes in the overall frame of the stained glass panel, which is set off by a narrow red outline with mottled decoration bordering the scene.

Label TextJudith Schaechter creates stained glass panels with detailed yet ambiguous narratives that link past centuries with the present. The field of contemporary stained glass is much better known for abstraction, but Schaechter’s studio practice relies on painstaking draftsmanship and the human figure. Her work gives new meaning to the stained-glass genre by creating both spatial and narrative depth through layers of decorated glass. While utilizing contemporary iconography, she employs traditional copper foil and soldering techniques that hearken back to the Middle Ages. Her work is characterized by dizzying arrays of texture, obsessive detail, and intense color. “I am very carefully editing out any references to time and place so that a wide range of people can bring a wide range of meanings to each image,” Schaechter explains. Here, the woman lounging on an oversized Victorian chaise seems both ecstatic and pained by the visual “noise” of nature flourishing not only outside—as seen through the window—but also invading the room in the form of floral wallpaper and a lush bouquet.Published References"Recent Important Acquisitions", New Glass Review, 34, 2013, repr. (col.) p. 122.

Page, Andrew, “The Raw Made Radiant”, Glass: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly, no. 158, Spring 2020, 18-27, repr. (col.) p. 24.

Exhibition HistoryNew York, Claire Oliver Gallery, Beauty and the Beef, 2010

Venice, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, 54th Venice Biennale, 2011.

Rochester, New York, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Transcedent: The Stained-Glass Art of Judith Schaechter, February 15, 2020-September 13, 2020.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Path to Paradise: Judith Schaechter’s Stained-Glass Art, October 3, 2020 - January 3, 2021.

Comparative ReferencesSee also Baker, Alex, Extra Virgin: The Stained Glass of Judith Schaechter, Philadelphia: Free News Projects in collaboration with Lawrence Publications, 2006.