Conrad Schmitt Studios is an architectural arts studio located in New Berlin, Wisconsin. It provides ecclesiastical art, stained glass artistry, art glass, decorative painting, mosaics, murals and sculptural arts. The studio specializes in restoration services for buildings of architectural, historical and religious significance. Founded in 1889 by German-American artist Conrad Schmitt, the company is one of the oldest and largest glass studios in the United States.
In 1889, Bavarian immigrant and formally trained artist, Conrad Schmitt, organized the Conrad Schmitt Studios with a focus on stained glass, decorative painting, and liturgical artwork. Originally located at 223 2nd Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the studio was among the city's pioneer businesses. [1] As one of the few art studios with the capacity to handle large-scale interior design projects, it quickly gained a national reputation and participated in increasingly complex projects across the country. [2] Some of the studio's prominent early commissions included St. Mary's Cathedral in Winnipeg, Canada in 1919, The Milwaukee Public Library in 1920, and Milwaukee's Davidson Theater (now closed) in 1925. [3] During the 1930s, studio branch offices operated out of New York City and Washington, D.C.
Bernard O. Gruenke, who was hired by company founder Conrad Schmitt in 1936, purchased the company in 1951 from members of the Schmitt family. [4] In 1981, his son Bernard E. Gruenke assumed leadership of the company. Since 2010, the studio has been owned and operated by a third generation of the Gruenke family: B. Gunar Gruenke and Heidi Gruenke Emery.
Conrad Schmitt Studios is represented at the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at Navy Pier in Chicago, and a replica of the early studio is featured in the "Streets of Old Milwaukee" display at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
In 1950, Bernard O. Gruneke, then art director of Conrad Schmitt Studios, was one of the first American artists to experiment with the dalle de verre technique of producing stained glass (also known as "slab glass" or "faceted glass"). [5] Gruenke was inspired while traveling in France during the 1940s, and is credited with what may be the first dalle de verre window created in the United States. [6] Experiments with epoxy and support structure at Conrad Schmitt Studios led to the first large-scale installations of faceted glass in the country, including a chapel at Notre Dame University's Moreau Seminary in South Bend, Indiana in 1959. [7]
Leptat glass is a signature etched glass patented and produced by Conrad Schmitt Studios. After viewing a Czechoslovakian glass exhibit at the 1969 World's Fair in Osaka, Japan, Bernard O. Gruenke began to explore etching techniques at his New Berlin studio. He and his son experimented with new methods that produced results unlike the evenly frosted effect achieved by traditional acid-etching methods. The process, called "Leptat" from the Czech word meaning "to etch", creates a deeply etched and varied crystalline surface. In some instances, gold leaf or colored enamels can be inlaid for further decoration of the glass. Leptat windows can be seen at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
The studio is under the direction of President B. Gunar Gruenke and Vice-President Heidi Gruenke Emery. At the 34,000-square-foot (3,200 m2) facility in New Berlin, Wisconsin, artisans create, conserve and restore stained glass. The company also provides ecclesiastical art, art glass, decorative painting, interior design, mosaics, murals, and sculptural arts.
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The Basilica of St. Josaphat, located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, is one of 82 American minor basilicas. In its grandeur and opulence it is an excellent example of the so-called Polish cathedral style of church architecture found in the Great Lakes region of North America. Modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, it features one of the largest copper domes in the world. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated Milwaukee Landmark.
The Seal of the City of Milwaukee is a civic seal that displays various symbols of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained-glass window manufacturers. As Whitefriars Glass, the company existed from the 17th century, but became well known as a result of the 19th-century Gothic Revival and the demand for stained glass windows.
Józef Mehoffer was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time.
Glass etching, or "French embossing", is a popular technique developed during the mid-1800s that is still widely used in both residential and commercial spaces today. Glass etching comprises the techniques of creating art on the surface of glass by applying acidic, caustic, or abrasive substances. Traditionally this is done after the glass is blown or cast, although mold-etching has replaced some forms of surface etching. The removal of minute amounts of glass causes the characteristic rough surface and translucent quality of frosted glass.
Cliché verre, also known as the glass print technique, is a type of "semiphotographic" printmaking. An image is created by various means on a transparent surface, such as glass, thin paper or film, and then placed on light sensitive paper in a photographic darkroom, before exposing it to light. This acts as a photographic negative, with the parts of the image allowing light through printing on the paper. Any number of copies of the image can be made, and the technique has the unique advantage in printmaking that the design can be reversed just by turning the plate over. However, the image loses some sharpness when it is printed with the plain side of the glass next to the paper.
Conrad Schmitt was twelve years old when his family's church in Fussville, Wisconsin was decorated for the first time, in 1879. Watching skilled artists transform the space with paints and stencils, he realized that this was his calling. At fourteen, he was apprenticed to Professor Louis Loeffler, a church decorator in Milwaukee.
Bernard Otto Gruenke was an American stained glass artist who produced one of the first faceted glass windows in the United States in 1949. He was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
B. Gunar Gruenke is a stained glass artist in Wisconsin.
Johannes Stephanus Theron known professionally as Leo Théron was a South African stained-glass window artist who specialises in the dalles de verre technique.
Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glass jewelry and tableware.
Happy-Go-Luckies of Nature and Technology is a public artwork by German artist Guido Brink located on the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee campus, which is near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The sculpture is a steel structure that is painted red. It was dedicated at UWM's Lapham Hall on October 23, 1992.
Deflected Jets is a public artwork by American artist Guido Peter Brink located on the Fire Engine Company #29 grounds, which is at 3529 South 84th Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. Commissioned in 1987 and installed the following year, the work consists of a stainless steel abstract form atop a red brick base, to which a placard is affixed. The total size of the piece is approximately 136 by 35 by 35 inches.
Ursula Huth is a German glass sculptor and stained-glass artist. Installations made of Pate de verre, sculptures and glass panels are presented worldwide.
Charles Norris OSB (1909–2004) was a Benedictine monk and dalle de verre stained glass artist who created works for Roman Catholic churches in the UK.
Art Nouveau glass is fine glass in the Art Nouveau style. Typically the forms are undulating, sinuous and colorful art, usually inspired by natural forms. Pieces are generally larger than drinking glasses, and decorative rather than practical, other than for use as vases and lighting fittings; there is little tableware. Prominently makers, from the 1890s onwards, are in France René Lalique, Emile Gallé and the Daum brothers, the American Louis Comfort Tiffany, Christopher Dresser in Scotland and England, and Friedrich Zitzman, Karl Koepping and Max Ritter von Spaun in Germany. Art Nouveau glass included decorative objects, vases, lamps, and stained glass windows. It was usually made by hand, and was usually colored with metal oxides while in a molten state in a furnace.
Esmé Mary Evelyn Currey was a British artist, known for her printmaking and for her paintings.
Carl Huneke was a German-American stained glass artist and master craftsman.
43°00′03″N88°06′49″W / 43.0009435°N 88.1136869°W
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