Wilhelmina GeddesHRUA (25 May 1887 – 10 August 1955) was an Irish stained glass artist who was an important figure within the Irish Arts and Crafts movement and also the twentieth century British stained glass revival.[1] Notable works include windows at St Bartholomew's (Ottawa, Canada), St Peter's Church (Lampeter, Wales), and the King Albert Memorial Window, St Martin's Cathedral (Ypres, Belgium).
Wilhelmina Margaret Geddes was born on her maternal grandparent's farm at Drumreilly Cottage in Leitrim on 25 May 1887.[2] She was the eldest of four children, three girls and a boy, of William Geddes (c.1852-1916) and his wife Eliza Jane Stafford (1863-1955). The family, who migrated to Ireland from Scotland, had mainly been farmers.[1] Her father, a Methodist, who was born near his father's farm at Tandragee, County Armagh, emigrated to America as a young man, working as a labourer for the railway construction business. This served a useful purpose as he had worked as a site engineer at the Cavan, Leitrim and Roscommon Railway Company. When she was still an infant her parents moved to their native home in Belfast, so her father could set up in business as a building contractor.[citation needed]
Education
Geddes began drawing subjects from life and nature from the age of four. She learnt first how to draw from the school mistress in Ayrshire, where her father occasionally went shooting. She began her studies at Methodist College Belfast[3] along with her three younger sisters. She later moved to the Belfast School of Art.[4] Geddes was encouraged by Rosamond Praeger, a sculptor from County Down, to continue with her studies. Geddes was accepted as a student to study at the Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. This is where Geddes adapted and improved her style and was introduced to a professional standard of art work.
Whilst still studying at the Belfast School of Art, Geddes took part in the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland's fourth exhibition. For this exhibition, Geddes contributed a glowingly coloured illustration of the book Cinderella Dressing the Ugly Sister[5](Dublin City Gallery), which she had created. It was at this exhibition that Geddes' work was spotted by Sarah Purser, a well established painter seeking newly trained students to introduce to stained glass artistry.[5][6]Purser, who went on to be Geddes' lifelong mentor,[1] invited the young Geddes to join her in Dublin, working under the established stained glass artist William Orpen.[7]
Geddes contributed a watercolour illustration of a Ballad Seller with the Belfast Art Society in 1907.[8] She was elected as an Associate of the Belfast Art Society's successor, the Ulster Academy of Arts, in 1933[9] before promotion to Honorary Academician in 1935.[10] Geddes showed five illustrations in the 1911 Oireachtas Exhibition. It was some twenty-one years before she returned to the Oireachtas when she exhibited three cartoons and three sketches for stained glass in 1932.[8]
Career
Geddes joined Purser at the acclaimed stained glass workshop called An Túr Gloine in 1910. The workshop was held in Dublin's Metropolitan School of Art. It was here that Geddes discovered her passion for the craftsmanship of stained glass artistry and created her most important works.[4]
During her early years at An Túr Gloine, "Geddes’s originality shone out, and important commissions came from St Ann’s Church in Dawson Street and the Presbyterian Church in Rathgar. Dogged by illness, she returned to Belfast before 1916 and lived between there and Dublin until moving in 1925 (as she had long wanted) to work in London at the Glass House in Fulham."[4]
Plaque placed by the Ulster Historic Society at Geddes residence, Marlbourough Park South.
Her work was considered pioneering and represented a rejection of the Late Victorian approach.[11] She created a new view of men in stained glass windows, portraying them with close-shaven crew cuts. "The muscularity and tension of her portraiture is matched by the radical design of her constructions. Ambitious large-scale projects, as at the cathedral in Ypres, are equalled by the drama of smaller-scale work at Wallasey (Lancashire) and Wallsend (Northumberland), or war memorial windows in obscure country churches."[4]
War Memorial Window, St. Bartholomew's Church, Canada 1919
This window was unveiled at St. Bartholomew's by HRH the Prince of Wales.[1] The window itself was commissioned by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, in 1916.[12] This piece is located in Ontario, Canada.[13] The window is a memorial piece, depicting images of mourning men and women. Geddes uses primitive colours in her Ottawa Window, the most prominent being yellow and black.[1] It is said by a critic that the colours used in this piece "give the window power and drama while strong, expressive drawing brings out the sense of action and facial expression."[14] An article in Irish Life featured the window on the cover of its Christmas edition in 1919. The writer of the article considered this window to be "one of the artistic triumphs of this century". Geddes completed the entire window in Purser's glass works, Upper Pembroke Street in Dublin, Ireland.[1]
St. Gabriel Window, All Saints Church, Dublin 1925
This window was commissioned by Canon Henry Dobbs, who was Chaplain to the Armed Forces.[1] This piece was given by parishioners to commemorate World War I casualties from the congregation, as were two other windows, St. Michael and St. Raphael.[15][1] Gabriel stands hard and solid displaying a warrior like, rugged face. He wears a blue and white mantle, which he wraps around himself. In St. Gabriel's hands he holds a branch given to him in Paradise and a mirror inscribed with an 'x', which signifies Christ in Greek.[1] Geddes depicts the angel with a red halo and a stony-faced expression. The church in which this window remains is All Saints' Church, Blackrock, County Dublin. In 1996, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael were reunited in the church's south wall.[15]
Lampeter Window, St. Peter's Church, Lampeter, Wales 1943
This piece was Geddes' last monumental work in stained glass and is located in the parish church of St. Peter's Lampeter. It measures: 20 ft and 4ins high by 11 ft 6 ins wide. It was commissioned in 1937 by Sir George Arthur Harford as a memorial to his father, Sir John Charles Harford, although Geddes' declining health and the interruptions of the war delayed its completion until 1943, and its installation until 1946.[16] She painted the figures on glass with an incredible clarity and rich use of colour. The three dominant figures portrayed in this piece are: Christ, St. Peter and St. Andrew. These characters are portrayed to be occupied with thoughts beyond "mortal cares". Geddes herself declared that the window's subject was 'The Prophecy of Esaias' and the 'Calling of Peter and Andrew'. Christ is the central figure and stands taller than St. Peter and St. Andrew. Christ holds within his hands a pink and gold stone Byzantine church sat upon a rock. This church-on-a-rock symbolism refers to a Bible verse, in Matthew 16:16-19.[1]
Later life and death
Despite the hardships of living in London during World War II, poverty, and ill health, Geddes "designed seventeen full-scale stained glass masterpieces, sixteen of which she completed"[5]
Geddes died on 10 August 1955 in London[6][7] of a pulmonary embolism.[citation needed] She was buried in Carnmoney Cemetery, County Antrim,[17] along with her mother and sister Ethel.[18] Even after moving to London, Geddes claimed that her native identity never wavered as she says she was always "a Belfast woman".[19]
^Hailes, Anne (4 January 2016). "Wilhelmina Geddes: Window on a remarkable life". The Irish News.
^ abcdFoster, Roy (23 January 2016). "Wilhelmina Geddes: Life and Work, by Nicola Gordon Bowe: awkward artist of many colours". Irish Times. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
^ abcBowe, Nicola Gordon (1988). "Wilhelmina Geddes, Harry Clarke, and Their Part in the Arts and Crafts Movement in Ireland". The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. 8: 58–79. doi:10.2307/1503970. JSTOR 1503970.
^ abDevlin, Patrick. "Wilhelmina Geddes (1887 - 1955): Stained Glass Artist". The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
^ abDevine, Ruth (2009). "Geddes, Wilhelmina Margaret". Dictionary of Irish Biography - Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
^ abStewart, Ann M (1997). Irish art societies and sketching clubs: index of exhibitors, 1870-1980, A-L. Vol. 1. Dublin: Four Courts Press. p. 269. ISBN1851823271.
^Anglesea, Martyn (1981). The Royal Ulster Academy of Arts: a centennial history. Belfast: Royal Ulster Academy of Arts. p. 91.
^Shirley Anne Brown. “Wilhelmina Geddes Ottawa Window”. Irish Arts Review 1994 Vol 10.
^"The Church of St.Bartholomew". Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^Ann Brown, Shirley (1994). Irish Arts Review Yearbook.
^WMG, SP (18 August 1924). Letter from WMG to SP. Purser MSS, NLI.
^ abGordon Bowe, Nicola (2002). Irish Arts Review. pp. 118–121.
^Martin., Crampin (2017). Stained glass at the church of St Peter, Lampeter. Hammond, John. Sulien Books. ISBN9781910675052. OCLC 982811784.
^Hailes, Anne (21 January 2016). "Book review: Wilhelmina Geddes Her Life and Work". Belfast Times. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
^"Classified ad 59 -- no title". The Irish Times. 13 August 1955.
^Gordon Bowe, Nicola (18 November 2015). "Belfast artist who created some of the city's most beautiful stained glass windows recognised in new book". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
January 24, 2023
wilhelmina, geddes, hrua, 1887, august, 1955, irish, stained, glass, artist, important, figure, within, irish, arts, crafts, movement, also, twentieth, century, british, stained, glass, revival, notable, works, include, windows, bartholomew, ottawa, canada, pe. Wilhelmina Geddes HRUA 25 May 1887 10 August 1955 was an Irish stained glass artist who was an important figure within the Irish Arts and Crafts movement and also the twentieth century British stained glass revival 1 Notable works include windows at St Bartholomew s Ottawa Canada St Peter s Church Lampeter Wales and the King Albert Memorial Window St Martin s Cathedral Ypres Belgium Wilhelmina GeddesHRUABorn25 May 1887Leitrim County Leitrim IrelandDied10 August 1955 1955 08 10 aged 68 London United KingdomResting placeCronmoney Cemetery Ballyclare County AntrimNationalityIrishEducationBelfast School of Art Dublin Metropolitan School of ArtKnown forstained glass design Contents 1 Early life 2 Education 3 Career 3 1 War Memorial Window St Bartholomew s Church Canada 1919 3 2 St Gabriel Window All Saints Church Dublin 1925 3 3 Lampeter Window St Peter s Church Lampeter Wales 1943 4 Later life and death 5 Stained Glass Windows 6 Further reading 7 ReferencesEarly life EditWilhelmina Margaret Geddes was born on her maternal grandparent s farm at Drumreilly Cottage in Leitrim on 25 May 1887 2 She was the eldest of four children three girls and a boy of William Geddes c 1852 1916 and his wife Eliza Jane Stafford 1863 1955 The family who migrated to Ireland from Scotland had mainly been farmers 1 Her father a Methodist who was born near his father s farm at Tandragee County Armagh emigrated to America as a young man working as a labourer for the railway construction business This served a useful purpose as he had worked as a site engineer at the Cavan Leitrim and Roscommon Railway Company When she was still an infant her parents moved to their native home in Belfast so her father could set up in business as a building contractor citation needed Education EditGeddes began drawing subjects from life and nature from the age of four She learnt first how to draw from the school mistress in Ayrshire where her father occasionally went shooting She began her studies at Methodist College Belfast 3 along with her three younger sisters She later moved to the Belfast School of Art 4 Geddes was encouraged by Rosamond Praeger a sculptor from County Down to continue with her studies Geddes was accepted as a student to study at the Belfast School of Art Ulster University This is where Geddes adapted and improved her style and was introduced to a professional standard of art work Whilst still studying at the Belfast School of Art Geddes took part in the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland s fourth exhibition For this exhibition Geddes contributed a glowingly coloured illustration of the book Cinderella Dressing the Ugly Sister 5 Dublin City Gallery which she had created It was at this exhibition that Geddes work was spotted by Sarah Purser a well established painter seeking newly trained students to introduce to stained glass artistry 5 6 Purser who went on to be Geddes lifelong mentor 1 invited the young Geddes to join her in Dublin working under the established stained glass artist William Orpen 7 Geddes contributed a watercolour illustration of a Ballad Seller with the Belfast Art Society in 1907 8 She was elected as an Associate of the Belfast Art Society s successor the Ulster Academy of Arts in 1933 9 before promotion to Honorary Academician in 1935 10 Geddes showed five illustrations in the 1911 Oireachtas Exhibition It was some twenty one years before she returned to the Oireachtas when she exhibited three cartoons and three sketches for stained glass in 1932 8 Career EditGeddes joined Purser at the acclaimed stained glass workshop called An Tur Gloine in 1910 The workshop was held in Dublin s Metropolitan School of Art It was here that Geddes discovered her passion for the craftsmanship of stained glass artistry and created her most important works 4 During her early years at An Tur Gloine Geddes s originality shone out and important commissions came from St Ann s Church in Dawson Street and the Presbyterian Church in Rathgar Dogged by illness she returned to Belfast before 1916 and lived between there and Dublin until moving in 1925 as she had long wanted to work in London at the Glass House in Fulham 4 Plaque placed by the Ulster Historic Society at Geddes residence Marlbourough Park South Her work was considered pioneering and represented a rejection of the Late Victorian approach 11 She created a new view of men in stained glass windows portraying them with close shaven crew cuts The muscularity and tension of her portraiture is matched by the radical design of her constructions Ambitious large scale projects as at the cathedral in Ypres are equalled by the drama of smaller scale work at Wallasey Lancashire and Wallsend Northumberland or war memorial windows in obscure country churches 4 War Memorial Window St Bartholomew s Church Canada 1919 Edit This window was unveiled at St Bartholomew s by HRH the Prince of Wales 1 The window itself was commissioned by Prince Arthur Duke of Connaught in 1916 12 This piece is located in Ontario Canada 13 The window is a memorial piece depicting images of mourning men and women Geddes uses primitive colours in her Ottawa Window the most prominent being yellow and black 1 It is said by a critic that the colours used in this piece give the window power and drama while strong expressive drawing brings out the sense of action and facial expression 14 An article in Irish Life featured the window on the cover of its Christmas edition in 1919 The writer of the article considered this window to be one of the artistic triumphs of this century Geddes completed the entire window in Purser s glass works Upper Pembroke Street in Dublin Ireland 1 St Gabriel Window All Saints Church Dublin 1925 Edit This window was commissioned by Canon Henry Dobbs who was Chaplain to the Armed Forces 1 This piece was given by parishioners to commemorate World War I casualties from the congregation as were two other windows St Michael and St Raphael 15 1 Gabriel stands hard and solid displaying a warrior like rugged face He wears a blue and white mantle which he wraps around himself In St Gabriel s hands he holds a branch given to him in Paradise and a mirror inscribed with an x which signifies Christ in Greek 1 Geddes depicts the angel with a red halo and a stony faced expression The church in which this window remains is All Saints Church Blackrock County Dublin In 1996 St Gabriel and St Raphael were reunited in the church s south wall 15 Lampeter Window St Peter s Church Lampeter Wales 1943 Edit This piece was Geddes last monumental work in stained glass and is located in the parish church of St Peter s Lampeter It measures 20 ft and 4ins high by 11 ft 6 ins wide It was commissioned in 1937 by Sir George Arthur Harford as a memorial to his father Sir John Charles Harford although Geddes declining health and the interruptions of the war delayed its completion until 1943 and its installation until 1946 16 She painted the figures on glass with an incredible clarity and rich use of colour The three dominant figures portrayed in this piece are Christ St Peter and St Andrew These characters are portrayed to be occupied with thoughts beyond mortal cares Geddes herself declared that the window s subject was The Prophecy of Esaias and the Calling of Peter and Andrew Christ is the central figure and stands taller than St Peter and St Andrew Christ holds within his hands a pink and gold stone Byzantine church sat upon a rock This church on a rock symbolism refers to a Bible verse in Matthew 16 16 19 1 Later life and death EditDespite the hardships of living in London during World War II poverty and ill health Geddes designed seventeen full scale stained glass masterpieces sixteen of which she completed 5 Geddes died on 10 August 1955 in London 6 7 of a pulmonary embolism citation needed She was buried in Carnmoney Cemetery County Antrim 17 along with her mother and sister Ethel 18 Even after moving to London Geddes claimed that her native identity never wavered as she says she was always a Belfast woman 19 Stained Glass Windows Edit Stained glass window created by Geddes for St Luke s Church Wallsend Angel of Resurrection St Ninnidh Church County Fermanagh Northern Ireland 1912Seaman Memorial Window St Molaise Church Monea Northern Ireland 1913 Faith Hope and Charity Window Presbyterian Church Belfast Northern Ireland 1913 1914 Dooner Memorial Windows St Ann s Church Dublin Ireland 1913 Margaret Horridge Memorial Window Holy Trinity Church Southport Lancashire 1914 Moorehouse Memorial Window Karori Cemetery Karori New Zealand 1914 Stewart Memorial Window Presbyterian Christ Church Dublin Ireland 1914 1916 Reed Memorial Window St Anne s Church Dublin Ireland 1916 Cuthbert Memorial Window Presbyterian Assembly Hall Belfast 1916 War Memorial Window St Bartholomew s Church Ottawa Canada 1919 Crucifixion Window St Luke s Church Wallsend Tyne amp Wear 1922 St Patrick s and Colomba Larne County Antrim Northern Ireland 1923 St Brendan Window Currane Church Achill Co Mayo Ireland 1924 Belfour Memorial Window All Saints Church Laleham Middlesex England 1925 The Fate of the Children of Lir Ulster Museum Belfast 1929 30 Sargent Memorial Window St Michael Church Northchapel West Sussex 1930 Wheeler Memorial Window St Lawrence Church Otterden Kent England 1933 Crichton Memorial Window Egremont Presbyterian Church Wallasey Lancashire 1934 King Albert Memorial Window Cathedral of St Martin Ypres Belgium 1938 Harford Memorial Window St Peter s Church Lampeter Wales 1943 Madonna and Child All Hallows Greenford London 1953 1954 1 Further reading EditNicola Gordon Bowe Wilhelmina Geddes 1887 1955 Her Life and Work A Reappraisal Journal of Stained Glass Vol XVIII 1988 Nicola Gordon Bowe Wilhelmina Geddes Life and Work Four Courts Press Pub 2015 ISBN 978 1 84682 532 3References Edit a b c d e f g h i j k Gordon Bowe Nicola 2015 Wilhelmina Geddes Life and Work Dublin Four Courts Press ISBN 9781846825323 Gordon Bowe Nicola August 2015 Wilhelmina Geddes Irish Arts Review 1984 1987 4 3 2 3 JSTOR 20492006 Hailes Anne 4 January 2016 Wilhelmina Geddes Window on a remarkable life The Irish News a b c d Foster Roy 23 January 2016 Wilhelmina Geddes Life and Work by Nicola Gordon Bowe awkward artist of many colours Irish Times Retrieved 22 November 2017 a b c Bowe Nicola Gordon 1988 Wilhelmina Geddes Harry Clarke and Their Part in the Arts and Crafts Movement in Ireland The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 8 58 79 doi 10 2307 1503970 JSTOR 1503970 a b Devlin Patrick Wilhelmina Geddes 1887 1955 Stained Glass Artist The Dictionary of Ulster Biography Retrieved 22 September 2020 a b Devine Ruth 2009 Geddes Wilhelmina Margaret Dictionary of Irish Biography Cambridge University Press Retrieved 22 September 2020 a b Stewart Ann M 1997 Irish art societies and sketching clubs index of exhibitors 1870 1980 A L Vol 1 Dublin Four Courts Press p 269 ISBN 1851823271 Anglesea Martyn 1981 The Royal Ulster Academy of Arts a centennial history Belfast Royal Ulster Academy of Arts p 91 Anglesea Martyn 1981 p 98 Shirley Anne Brown Wilhelmina Geddes Ottawa Window Irish Arts Review 1994 Vol 10 The Church of St Bartholomew Retrieved 16 November 2017 Ann Brown Shirley 1994 Irish Arts Review Yearbook WMG SP 18 August 1924 Letter from WMG to SP Purser MSS NLI a b Gordon Bowe Nicola 2002 Irish Arts Review pp 118 121 Martin Crampin 2017 Stained glass at the church of St Peter Lampeter Hammond John Sulien Books ISBN 9781910675052 OCLC 982811784 Hailes Anne 21 January 2016 Book review Wilhelmina Geddes Her Life and Work Belfast Times Retrieved 22 September 2020 Classified ad 59 no title The Irish Times 13 August 1955 Gordon Bowe Nicola 18 November 2015 Belfast artist who created some of the city s most beautiful stained glass windows recognised in new book Belfast Telegraph Retrieved 23 November 2017 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wilhelmina Geddes amp oldid 1120400958, 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