Customer Reviews

Light Screens: Deluxe Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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The "cover" image shown with this book is flipped 180 degrees from its actual orientation. To see the book in its actual design, go to www.lightscreens.com ... both the hardcover catalog to the exhibition and what I call the "Big Book" (the slipcased 400-pager) are there. (The paperback catalog is available only in the museums where the exhibition is mounted.)

Others have referred to the photographs as "bland." Well, I'd have to agree where the museums that own Wright windows are concerned; Wright intended to "bring the outside in," but museums for some reason insist on photographing his windows against a white background. Since I took most of the photographs in these books, let me tell you that I always photographed them with their backgrounds - the landscapes in the middle and long distance - integral to the windows themselves, as Wright intended.

The drawings are smaller than Wright made them because any 9x12 book is smaller than Wright's drawings. <smile> And as for "came" vs. "leaded," the latter term is a commonly used generalization to describe any glass held in a metal matrix ... Wright usually used copper or brass came, but not exclusively.

Since the book is in print after 20 years of research, the fact that its designer didn't meet the first reviewer's expectations or desires is beside the point. Until now there's been no definitive overview of Wright's stained glass. We should rejoice that this books exists ... and I do. Why do I rejoice? Beause I took most of the photos in the book (I'm the ALL of ALL/JLS in the credits) and I know how difficult it was to gain access to the [lived-in] homes of Wright homeowners, so I celebrate the fact that the author's been able to share this work with the world. It would otherwise be inaccessible.

This book is a wonderful companion to the traveling exhibition of the same name, but it also stands on its own if you can't make it to the exhibit.

Sloan's approach -- a chronological study of the evolution of Wright's glass design -- will be appreciated by scholars of the architect's career.

Additionally, I found the images pleasing in scope. The book includes an extensive mix of drawings (wall plans, window plans, and more), color close-ups (with plain backgrounds and with real-life backgrounds shot from the interior), in-house shots that show how the windows blend with the interiors, and shots of the exteriors.

The book is well-researched and insightful, a collection of beautiful images and a serious study of a master.

Finally, a documentation of all of Wright's windows in one place. A priceless addition to the libraries of Wright fans and scholars, this is it-- the end-all, be-all. The package is beautiful. The illustrations are not only COMPLETE, they are extensive and varied. And finally, the text is an extensive analysis by none other than Julie Sloan. The table of contents reveals the scope of her expertise, and each chapter proves its strength.

This is a very well researched, well presented analysis of FLW's windows. It speaks for itself. The pictures are well chosen and do a very good job of illustrating the books themes and analysis.

The material as shown in this book is very bland. Many of the photos show the windows against various white backgrounds with varying degrees of success. The originals are so very exciting that these reproductions take all the wind out of them. There are occasional drawings of these designs that are so small to make them nearly useless.

The title of the book is interesting because so few of the stained glass (or more correctly art glass) works of FLW were "leaded." Most used a Came (the proper word for the metal used to hold the glass in place) was other than lead, copper, zinc and brass were used according to the other books on this subject.

The graphic design of the book is also scattered and needs help. This is too bad because of the other fine work on Wright's glass published before this. One would have hoped that this book would have made an advance based on the earlier work. Check out the others.

Gee for this good of an indepth book it's missing some of Mr. Wrights art glass work. It appears to the author SLOAN of the book that Mr. Wright's executed art glass ended in 1924. HOW UNTRUE. What about the artglass in the Southern Florida University chapel? Or what about the Greek church in Madison Wisconsin? or what about the 1954 Beth Shalom Synagogue in Elkins Park, PA....the artglass above the pulpit??? GEE GOOD research on the rest of it though.....lots of detail but she didn't do a good job on the rest of it.....by the way a sketch in Wright's drawings was done for the Greek Church in Madison, Wisc. originally to be christian "figurines"...the only sketch by Wright in artglass that was realistic other than his unexecuted "waterlilies" artglass that is known of and printed in color form today on rugs and prints. And gee I didn't even spend time to research this data, it was all known to me as an architect, & enthusiast. I'm also a member of the FLLW conservancy, FLLW Home & studio, Taliesin Fellows, and Taliesin Associates member.

The NY church mentioned above has artglass over the pulpit, the Florida campus 'little chapel' narthex is entirely artglass, as is the little dome inside the now public area of the Guggenheim in NY. I also haven't seen personally but have heard there is artglass even at Marin county building in the ceiling domes. I hope someday to go out there and look for myself. I'm sure I missed a few others herein but that was my main point of the book.

Sloan went in-depth into the history of the early period but missed the very early co-authored commissions and she incorrectly came to a 'conclusion' with her 'matrix's" of charts showing 'shapes he used in artglass' and the periods used.

I doubt if she went out and actually saw alot of the 'Wright buildings' of the 40's and late 50's which have artglass in them. Her remark in the book prologue that no 'artglass' of FLLW's designs was ever executed after 1923 with the Charles Ennis home in LA.
Wrong! A mere mentioning at the very end of the book isn't good enough in it's few dedicated pages - those buildings needed to be given much more attention and also being written about. The original patterns FLLW designed for the Madison Unitarian Meeting House even though unexecuted , he still did an interesting design on the built windows of the pulpit also. To envision what the church pulpit glass may have looked like one needs to travel to Spring Green, WI and see the St. Johns Catholic Church that was designed by Taliesin Architects, and see the pulpit there, artglass done by Susan Jacobs Lockhart of Taliesin.

SAINT JOHN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 608-588-2028
253 NORTH WASHINGTON STREET, SPRING GREEN WI 53588

Sloan should stick to what she is good at -'research', and not draw her own conclusions or show anything more than presenting the data itself and sticking to the artglass subject which she seemed to do well at. Some minor errors but overall an informative and well done book with alot of new material and seldom seen photos and artglass designs, details, and background. I consider this the starter book for enthusiasts and for well read researchers they will have to wait a little while until some newer evidence comes out that will reshape the front-end of her books findings.

For non-architects who do books....CLUE: next time do more thorough research 'suppositions' since it makes your efforts and detailed work look shabby for so lengthy of detailed data excerpted in your book. Good luck next time and PLEASE add a GOOD redone 2nd edition.