{"id":2566,"date":"2020-06-08T12:17:33","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T12:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/?p=2566"},"modified":"2020-06-08T12:17:34","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T12:17:34","slug":"letting-in-the-light-the-leonard-evetts-archive-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/2020\/06\/08\/letting-in-the-light-the-leonard-evetts-archive-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Letting in the Light: The Leonard Evetts Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is an online version of the exhibition Letting in the Light: The Leonard Evetts Archive<\/strong><\/em>, which was on display in the Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms, Newcastle University prior to the closure of the Library due to the current Coronavirus situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to creators Cathleen Burton and Paul Campbell, our placement students in Special Collections last year (2019) as part of Newcastle University\u2019s Career Development Module.\u00a0\u00a0 Working on the recently acquired Leonard Evetts archive, they helped to catalogue, re-package, and research this fascinating collection. The collection and its catalogue was scheduled to be open to the public by the end of 2020, and this unfortunately may now be delayed, but in the meantime here is Cathleen and Paul’s exhibition…<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n

This exhibition showcases the archive of world renowned artist and designer Leonard Evetts (1909 \u2013 1997), whose archive has been donated to Newcastle University Special Collections.  A designer, painter, calligrapher, author, and teacher, Evetts is perhaps best known as a master in the design of stained glass windows.  The most prolific English church window designer of the 20th<\/sup> Century, he created over 400 works of stained glass in his lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evetts firmly believed that windows should \u2018let the light in\u2019 and\ndisliked the dark effect of the traditional Victorian windows found in many\nEnglish churches.  He conceived his\nwindows to show the play of light and shade at different times of day, with the\ndifferent shifts in the weather, and even the seasonal changes in the trees and\nfoliage surrounding his windows.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On receiving a tentative criticism that \u2018all the other windows look so dark in contrast to yours\u2019 Evetts replied \u2018Oh well, I don\u2019t mind that as long as you\u2019ve noticed the difference!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Proposed
Proposed design for a Memorial Window to Lieut. Hugh Walton-Wilson, Church of St John, Snod\u2019s Edge, Northumberland, circa 1939.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Born in Newport, South Wales,\nEvetts spent most of his working life in the North East – working at Newcastle\nUniversity for 37 years where he was latterly the Head of the School of\nDesign.  Although he was commissioned by\nchurches throughout England, many wonderful examples of his work can be found\nlocally in the cities of Newcastle and Sunderland as well as the surrounding\ncountryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Plan
Plan for repair of East Window, Church of St Edmund, Sedgefield, 1970.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Proposed
Proposed Figure of Christ in Majesty, St Bede\u2019s Church, Town End Farm Estate, Sunderland, 1968.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Proposed
Proposed West Window, Church of Our Lady and Saint Oswain, Tynemouth, 1994.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Design
Design for Newcastle General Hospital Chapel, 1979.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While much\nof Evetts\u2019 work was commissioned within the UK, in the late 1950s and 1960s\nEvetts designed the windows for All Saint\u2019s Church in Apia, Western Samoa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communication (by unreliable postal service!) was difficult during the project.  Several setbacks occurred, including Evetts falling ill with influenza, delays in the receipt of important information, and one case of stained glass arriving damaged.   However, the windows were eventually completed, combining images of saints and symbols of Samoa. Two of the windows were later chosen for special edition Christmas stamps on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photograph
Photograph of the construction of the church, 1952, sent to Evetts before design began. Evetts would create stained glass for the windows in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Photograph
Photograph of the stained glass window above the Alter, Evetts\u2019 interpretation of the Last Supper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Christmas
Christmas Stamps, 1972<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although most known for his glass work, Leonard worked in many media and was a skilled watercolour artist.  These examples from the archive show how he retained his distinctive style in these works, making skillful use of colour, line and atmosphere to bring out the true essence of the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Quick
Brinton, 1994<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sketch
Sketch of a castle, no date.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sketch
Cruck Barn, Lydham, 1970.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leonard Evetts saw himself as a designer, and this is reflected in the range and scope of his work.  As his wife Phyl Evetts commented \u201ceach commission was of equal importance to him, whether designing an amusing milk carton or a crozier for a bishop. He loved a challenge and nothing was too small or too mighty for him to tackle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Proposed
Proposed Alter Frontal, Church of St George, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1988.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>

Proposed Alter Frontal, Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1989.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n

Leonard Evetts\u2019 connection with Newcastle University was longstanding. After a period lecturing for the College of Art in Edinburgh, Leonard Evetts began working for King\u2019s College Newcastle in 1937, lecturing in art and teaching students to design and produce stained glass pieces.  When in 1963 Kings College became Newcastle University, Evetts became head of the School of Design and remained in the post until retiring in 1974.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\u2018Soliloquy
\u2018Soliloquy for Assiduous Grozer\u2019. This short poem was written by Evetts in the 1960s. It was to tease a student who often did not cut his glass correctly, and needed to \u201cgroze\u201d the edges to reduce its size. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Newcastle
Newcastle University Shield of Arms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The shield of arms was first used by Kings College in 1938, and became the shield for Newcastle University when it became independent in 1963.  This 1964 letter from G Ashley, Assistant Registrar, thanks Evetts for his help preparing the Shield of Arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1964<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This exhibition was designed by Cathleen Burton and Paul\nCampbell, 2019.  Cathleen and Paul were\nSpecial Collection placement students, whilst undertaking Newcastle\nUniversity\u2019s career development module.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to both for their dedication and hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Window
Window design, Church of Our Lady and Saint Oswain, Tynemouth, 1994.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is an online version of the exhibition Letting in the Light: The Leonard Evetts Archive, which was on display in the Marjorie Robinson Library Rooms, Newcastle University prior to the closure of the Library due to the current Coronavirus situation. Many … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5894,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[221,669,670,667,165,119,668,636],"class_list":["post-2566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exhibitions","tag-art","tag-churches","tag-design","tag-leonard-evetts","tag-newcastle","tag-newcastle-university","tag-stained-glass","tag-sunderland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2566"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2663,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2566\/revisions\/2663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}