William Willet (November 1, 1869 – March 29, 1921) was an American

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

painter, muralist, stained glass designer, studio owner and writer. An early proponent of the Gothic Revival and active in the "Early School" of American stained glass, he founded the Willet Stained Glass and Decorating Company, a stained glass studio, with his wife and partner Anne Lee Willet, in protest against the opalescent pictorial windows which were the rage at the turn of the twentieth century.

Career

WestPointNY Chapel FullWindow colorcorrected

A descendant of Thomas Willett, the first English mayor of New York City, Willet was born on November 1, 1869 in New York. He studied under the artist William Merritt Chase, at the Tradesmen's Institute in New York City and in France and England. Originally a portrait painter, Willet made portraits for President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

, John Jacob Aster, William McEwan, among others. He assisted

John La Farge John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics. La Farge is best known for ...

between 1885–1887 during which time he served as art director and painted faces on murals. In 1896 he married Anne Lee, daughter of the Reverend Henry F. Lee, of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. In 1897 the couple moved to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, where Willet served as art director of stained glass artist Ludwig Grosse's stained glass firm from 1897–98, before establishing his own studio, the Willet Stained Glass Company, in 1899. Inspired by European work and the Pre-Raphaelites, Willet rebelled against the American School of stained glass – a movement established by

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

and

identified by its use of opalescent glass.Waggoner, Shawn. "Crosby Willet and Willet Stained Glass Studios: Three Generations of Glass for the Ages", ''Glass Art'', Jan/Feb 2003:55 Willet believed that opalescent glass ignored the principles of architecture and did not fulfill the purpose of a window. Instead, he was enamored with the medieval technique of transparent antique glass, lecturing and writing constantly on the subject. As a member of what Charles J. Connick termed the "Early School" of stained glass artists, Willet, and fellow craftsmen Otto Heinigke and Harry E. Goodhue, are credited with renewing America's interest in traditional medieval materials, techniques, and aesthetic. He is responsible for making the first medallion window in America, in the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the second in Calvary Episcopal Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The first medallion window, designed and executed for First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh was composed of antique stained glass in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

manner. It was ill favored by the Senior Pastor, Dr. Maitland Alexander, who found it archaic and cheap. He ordered that the window be covered with heavy canvas and a great organ erected before it. Before it was hidden from view, however, it caught the attention of

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

architect Ralph Adams Cram who would later serve as a patron for many of the Willet's works. In 1910 Willet won the commission for the Great Sanctuary Window in the Cadet Chapel at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

. That window, entitled ''Duty, Honor, Country'' is composed of seven lancets and measures 34 feet wide by 50 feet tall. At the time, the competition was recognized as one of the most memorable ever held in the United States. Designs submitted to the selection jury were displayed for several weeks at the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

. Willet beat out

and many other accomplished designers of the day. Following its completion, the project for the design and fabrication of the

Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and North windows was awarded to the Willet studio. The commission, which spanned three generations of Willets over a period of sixty-six years, remains the longest continuing commission in American history. Other windows Willet designed are those of Mather Memorial in Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio;

Cathedral of Saint Paul in Pittsburgh Saint Paul Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. St. Paul's parish was established in 1833. History The original St. Paul's was dedicated in 1833. When the diocese was established in 1843 St ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

; Church of the Holy Spirit, Asbury Park, New York; Procter Hall at the

Princeton University Graduate College The Graduate College at Princeton University is a residential college which serves as the center of graduate student life at Princeton. Wyman House, adjacent to the Graduate College, serves as the official residence of the current Dean of the Gr ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

; World War Memorial Window in Trinity Episcopal Church, Syracuse, New York; windows in

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...

Chapel,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York; and the following windows in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

: Joseph Harrison Memorial,

Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia Church of the Holy Trinity is an Episcopal church on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. The first service in the church building, designed by Scottish architect John Notman, was held on March 27, 1859. The corner tower was added in 1867 an ...

; Alfred Harrison Memorial, Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, Germantown, Pennsylvania; St. Matthew's Catholic Church, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania."Stained-Glass Loses Its Master", ''The Ornamental Glass Bulletin'', 1921–22

Death

He died on March 29, 1921 at the age of 52. Following his death his wife and partner, Anne Lee and their son Henry continued with the Willet Studio which today is recognized as Willet Hauser Architectural Glass. He is buried in Princeton Cemetery in

."Anne Lee Willet, 1867–1943", '' Stained Glass Quarterly'', Spring 1943 At the time of his death, Willet was considered one of the most important stained glass artists in America.

Examples of William Willet's work in stained glass

Career

Death

Examples of William Willet's work in stained glass

See also