Our first event, which was fully booked, took place last September in partnership with Oxford Universtiy’s Alumni Office, and was part of ‘Meeting Minds in Oxford’, Oxford University’s annual Alumni weekend events programme. It was an expert-led walking tour to Pembroke and Nuffield colleges. You can read more about the event here.
The focus was on the stained glass design work of the artist John Piper (1903-1992) and the event was catalysed following the discovery of a stained glass design drawing for Llandaff Cathedral (1959) by the artist John Piper held in the important Pembroke JCR Art Collection. This interesting drawing catalysed a research visit to the exceptional Nuffield College Chapel completed in 1961 for which Piper not only designed a series of beautiful stained glass windows in collaboration with Patrick Reyntiens but also led on the design for the furniture and overall architectural space. You can read more about its history here.
The chapel is not normally open to non-college members and it is perhaps less widely known then Piper’s work for Coventry Cathedral and Liverpool (or indeed the many examples of his work for Oxfordshire village churches) but it is a rare, important place. The Pembroke JCR Art Collection is also of great interest as it was one of the first Oxford colleges to start the tradition of college junior common rooms collecting contemporary art in 1947 under the guidance of the then Oxford Professor of Fine Art, Kenneth Clark.
The curator of the UK’s only stained glass museum in Ely Cathedral, Dr. Jasmine Allen, provided expert insight into Piper’s work in this area and Pembroke JCR art curator, Tatjana Leboff gave background to the Pembroke JCR collection prior to the visit to Nuffield chapel. Dr. Allen has been Curator at Ely since 2013 following completion of a doctorate on stained glass and the international exhibitions in the nineteenth century at the University of York. She is a Board Member of the Glaziers Trust and an Advisor to the London Stained Glass Repository.
This first Hidden Object Oxford event was possible through the help and advice of many including Tatjana Leboff and Dame Lynne Brindley from Pembroke College and Professor Richard Mayou from Nuffield College and Clare Monaghan, Jenny Wood and their team at the Oxford University Alumni Office.
Please sign up here for news of future events.
