One of the best things about traveling, of course, is that you learn new things. I'm not going to make claims that my mind has been expanded, but I did find my trip to the Smith Museum of Stained Glass in Chicago to be very interesting, enjoyable, and informative.
For one thing, I did not know of Chicago's role in the development of the art of stained glass (see below).
And for another, I didn't understand that Tiffany the jewelry store was actually an inventive American artist in several visual forms, including stained glass:
Call me a geek, but I found reading about these art greats fascinating; that there were people - brilliant people - who were passionate about colour and technique and beauty and line. (I'm sure such people still exist today, but I guess I don't travel in such circles.) My friend Lynn works as a hobby in stained glass, and the things she makes are gorgeous, but I didn't appreciate it as an art form and as an art form with a history as I do now. I think about people like Tiffany and La Farge, and I wonder about their lives, and how they came to seek the creative expression that they did in the methods that they chose. I wonder about the people who worked for and with them, and how they must have influenced each other, and how the people of their time must have felt to see the new variations of this art form (did they think it was too garish? too modern? too secular? a revelation?).Like I said, I'm a geek who's excited by this kind of stuff. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment