Remembering Ervin Bossányi, Stained Glass Artist

 

Yesterday I took part in an event held at the Liszt Institute dedicated to Hungarian-born artist Ervin Bossányi, best known for his stained glass windows at Canterbury Cathedral.

Ervin Bossányi (1891-1975) was born in a small village in southern Hungary and educated in Budapest. He worked as a painter and sculptor mainly in northern Germany until his forced emigration in 1934. In due course, he would establish a new career as a notable stained glass artist in England. He created stained glass windows for Senate House Library, University of London, the Tate Gallery (‘The Angel Blesses the Women Washing the Clothes’), the Victoria and Albert Museum (‘Noli me tangere’), as well as for York Minster, the President Woodrow Wilson memorial chapel in Washington National Cathedral, Washington DC and Canterbury Cathedral, among others.

Art historian Monica Bohm-Duchen, founding director of Insiders/Outsiders, led a panel discussion with family members, stained glass experts and others to explore the extraordinary life and unique cultural contribution of this still too little-recognised artist.

Panel participants:

• Ilona Bossányi: granddaughter of Ervin Bossányi
• Revd Jonathan Evens: Team Rector for Wickford and Runwell, who writes regularly on visual arts and has a special interest in émigré artists who worked for the Church
• Alfred Fisher MBE: stained glass artist, who worked with Bossányi
• Caroline Swash: stained glass artist and author of The 100 Best Stained Glass Sites in London

In my presentation I briefly mapped out the context within which Bossanyi’s work and vision can best be understood and appreciated, by showing the extent to which aspects of his approaches were shared with others in his day and time. My paper will be published by ArtWay shortly, while the session as a whole was recorded and will be made available by The Liszt Institute and Insiders/Outsiders.

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