Keith New was one of a small number of British artists who made major contributions to stained glass in the decades immediately following the Second World War. He is best known as one of the three-man Royal College of Art team that designed and fabricated the 80-feet-high nave windows for the new Coventry Cathedral. He subsequently went on to design windows for more than two dozen other churches and cathedrals. He died in 2012, and two former colleagues from Kingston University, where he last taught, are working to re-establish his reputation in stained glass. Diana Coulter and Bob Smith are aiming to produce a definitive list of Keith New’s windows and panels, including details of location; who commissioned the work; the design and fabrication; and photographs of the glass. They aim to produce a publication of their work, and there is potential for an exhibition. A later phase of the research project may involve interviews with Keith’s collaborators and obtaining artistic judgments on the quality and importance of Keith’s work.
Fig. 1. East Window, Wesley Methodist Church, Cambridge
Fifty years ago, Wesley Methodist Church in Cambridge commissioned a vibrant modernist stained-glass east window designed by Keith New, and the church is celebrating the golden anniversary of its installation with an event on 19 October 2014. The church will be open for ‘Anniversary Sunday’ 10am – 6pm, and there will be morning and evening worship, as well as an open afternoon to view the window and a small display, together with tea and conversation (4pm – 6pm) with the artist’s two daughters, friends of the family, and stained-glass experts and historians.
For more information, contact Diana Coulter at diana.coulter@mac.com and visit the blog documenting the project.
