Late 20th Century
The late 20th century has seen a popular revival of the craft, which is now widely taught in technical colleges and practised by many artists, both commercial and hobbyists. With a revival of the craft, both abstract design and formalised pictorial motifs have flourished, as has the use of irregularly textured and patterned glass. Many leadlight artists employ simple pictorial forms that can be achieved without recourse to painting and firing. Recent formalised motifs have included butterflies, yachts on the ocean and a wide range of flora.
Whereas in the early 20th century the product of a small leadlighting studio generally reflected the trends in modern architecture, and was produced with great competence by professional craftsmen fully trained through apprenticeship, modern leadighting is increasingly the province of amateurs. The resultant product often demonstrates a lack of formal design training on behalf of the craftsperson, and a lack of awareness of stylistic trends.
The finer products of late 20th and 21st century leadlighting continue to display a mastery of the traditional technical skills, an awareness of design trends and original creative artistry.
Famous quotes containing the words late and/or century:
“Or seen the furrows shine but late upturned,
And where the fieldfare followed in the rear,
When all the fields around lay bound and hoar
Beneath a thick integument of snow.
So by God’s cheap economy made rich
To go upon my winter’s task again.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“And haughtier-headed Burke that proved the State a tree,
That this unconquerable labyrinth of the birds, century after century,
Cast but dead leaves to mathematical equality....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)