Charles Jay Connick (1875–1945) was a prominent American painter, muralist, and designer best known for his work in stained glass in the Gothic Revival style. Born in Springboro, Pennsylvania, Connick eventually settled in the Boston area where he opened his studio in 1913. Connick's work is contained in many preeminent churches and chapels, including examples in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. He also authored the book Adventures in Light and Color in 1937. Connick's studio continued to operate, and remained a leading producer of stained glass, until 1986.
Life
Born in Springboro in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, on September 27, 1875, Connick moved with his family to Pittsburgh when he was eight years old. Bullied by city children who made fun of his countrified attire, Connick would stay indoors during recess and draw with crayons, and thereby developed an interest in drawing and color at a young age. When obligated to leave high school when his father was disabled, he became an illustrator on the staff of the Pittsburgh Press.<ref>{ { cite book | last=Tannler | first=Albert M. | title=Charles J. Connick: His Education and His Windows in and Near Pittsburgh | publisher=Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation | date=December 2008 | isbn=978-0-9788284-3-1 }}</ref>
At the age of 19, Connick became apprenticed in the production of stained glass windows at the shop of Rudy Brothers in Pittsburgh, where he stayed through 1899. He left for work in Boston for two years, returning to Pittsburgh in 1903 and worked for a number of stained-glass companies both in Pittsburgh and New York. Connick also studied drawing and painting in night classes and went to England and France to study ancient and modern stained glass, including those in the Chartres Cathedral, in which he examined the effect of light and optics that had been employed in the 12th and 13th centuries, but which he perceived to be neglected since. Connick was also influenced by English Arts and Crafts Movement stained glass artist Christopher Whall.
Connick's first major work, All Saints Church in Brookline, Massachusetts, was completed in 1910. Connick settled in Boston where he opened his stained glass studio at Nine Harcourt Street, Back Bay, Boston, in 1913. From there until his death, Connick designed and produced many notable stained glass windows including the rose windows of the Cathedrals of St. Patrick and St. John the Divine in New York City, and windows in the Princeton University Chapel, the American Church in Paris, and in the Calvary Episcopal and East Liberty Presbyterian churches in Pittsburgh. One of his largest works is in the Heinz Memorial Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh. Heinz Chapel has the distinction of having all of its 23 windows () designed by Connick, including its 73-foot (22 m) tall transept windows which are among the tallest such windows in the world.
Connick also authored the book Adventures in Light and Color, modestly subtitled An Introduction to the Stained Glass Craft, as well as a series for Random House titled International Studio (1923–24).
His work involved close collaborations not only with architects but also with other artists, including the poet Robert Frost, with whom Connick had an ongoing friendship. For one of a pair of windows for the Newtonville Branch Library, in Newton, Massachusetts, Connick included in the glass the opening line of Frost's poem "Mending Wall" . Frost was present at the dedication of the building in 1939 to read this poem. The second window was inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem "There is no frigate like a book." The pair of Connick windows, which are in a more personalized Arts and Crafts style rather than his more known ecclesiastical designs, contribute to the significance of the Newtonville Library which is part of the Newtonville Historic District.
Connick was active in, among other societies, the Boston Art Club, Boston Architectural Club, The Mural Painters, and the Copley Society of Art. Connick adopted the Pegasus as his symbol and designed it in stained glass which was carved on his gravestone.
Charles Jay Connick died on December 28, 1945. At his death, The New York Times reported that Dr. Connick was "considered the world's greatest contemporary craftsman in stained glass." (The New York Times'', Saturday, December 29, 1945, p. 13.)