dieser beitrag wurde verfasst in: englisch (eng/en)
künstler: Felix Lieftuchter
titel: St. Agnes church murals
jahr: 1931
+: «St. Agnes opened as a parish church in 1917 and was designed by one of the most highly regarded church architects at the time, John T. Comes. Comes believed that Catholic churches should be designed as a total work of art, seamlessly coordinating the architecture, sculpture, decoration and mural painting. Comes also advocated total truthfulness in church design. In other words, he insisted on only the best materials for all the church elements: marble columns, wooden pulpits and confessionals, true stained glass, and high quality murals.
Felix Lieftuchter worked very closely with Comes when developing his mural cycle for St. Agnes. In fact, it was the architectural design that inspired Lieftuchter to drop everything and concentrate on these murals. He commented: 'When I saw the spaces in St. Agnes, I felt them made for mural embellishment. As a matter of fact, I lost another important commission that matured at the time I commenced these murals…I shall always want to design a church with the ideal spaces for mural paintings.' Lieftuchter spent a year planning the design for St. Agnes in his studio before beginning the actual painting in he church. The painter was assisted by two young art students, Helen Hartz and Ann Murray. A reporter from the Pittsburgh Press commented that the students were fearless in the painting process: 'The dizzying heights from which they work do not bother them. They are as nimble as spiders and walking along scaffolds within arms reach of the ceilings.'»
(Sylvia Rhor)