Frederic Crowninshield: A Renaissance Man in the Gilded Age

The task of decorating the interiors of the many new public and private structures created in Gilded Age America called for artists proficient in the skills of mural and stained glass design. Frederic Crowninshield (1845-1918) was one of those who rose to meet this challenge, and his career sheds light on what came to be known as the American Renaissance. Like his contemporaries Louis Comfort Tiffany and John La Farge, he devoted much of his energy to designing murals and stained glass windows. But he was also a successful painter, teacher, and author. His book Mural Painting (1886) was the definitive study on the subject for many years, and his murals and stained glass windows decorated churches and public buildings in New York, New England, and the Midwest. This book offers the first full account of Crowninshield’s life and work. Gertrude de G. Wilmers and Julie L. Sloan situate his career in the context of patronage, class, and art and provide an expert analysis of his work in stained glass, mural painting, oil, and watercolor. The book is richly illustrated with artworks by Crowninshield and his contemporaries, student drawings, family photographs, and related works of architecture.