Swans on water at sunset
Probably Freiburg, Switzerland, attributed to Jean-Edouard de Castella around 1905 (probably 1904 – 1906).
Stained glass with lead came; colourless, blue, green, yellow and orange glass, partly doubled and opalescent glass, rolled and cast “ornamental” glass
In light: H 136 cm, W 70 cm; with frame: H 170 cm, W 103.5 cm
Private collection, VMR 312
This glass painting originates in the Atelier Kirsch & Fleckner in Freiburg, Switzerland. The young Jean-Edouard de Castella (1881 – 1966), who probably designed this unsigned glass painting of swans, worked with them as a subcontractor in 1903/1904. Castella’s niece, Charlotte de Wolff, mentions in correspondence in 1990 that Lucie de Castella, his widow, had identified the painting as her husband’s work.
Castella was born in Australia; in 1887 his family resettled in Freiburg. He was trained in Freiburg, Munich and Paris. In 1904 the Atelier Kirsch & Fleckner executed the first major commission for stained glass by the artist, who had previously worked only as a painter, for the church in Heitenried.
The windows are in the Art Nouveau style – and thus do not at all correspond to the artistic style for which Castella is still known today: since the 1930s, his works have been characterised by two-dimensional design, stylised figures and lively expression. The windows in Heitenried however, bear a striking resemblance to the stained glass on display here. Between 1906 and 1910, Castella was again in Australia, which narrows down the dating of this work to either between 1904 and 1906 or after 1910. Since the glass painting uses the formal vocabulary of Art Nouveau, the earlier date is more likely. This suggests that we are seeing a young artist experimenting with different approaches to processing glass, which can be observed in the Swan panel. Doubling is present in some places, for example, where it is used for special colour effects or darkening. The two panes placed one on top of the other are easily recognized on the reverse, where they protrude from the surface. The wavy lines of the water were “pressed” into the cast rolled glass by the shape of the rollers.
The swan was one of the most common motifs of Art Nouveau. Its elegance and grace as well as its arched neck corresponded to the artistic sensibility of the time.