Roman Halter • Life and Art through Stained Glass 1 | Page 24

fig 4.

Ark doors
1985–6
Leo Baeck College, London
Stained glass and cast and polished aluminium alloy

English shimmer silver in light, and grey in shadow.
Design and craft of the Room is holistic and even the
screw heads have been transformed into tiny flowers.
Other delights created by father and daughter
include a hand-stitched curtain and painted chairs
and tables which help to create a space both ‘special’
and welcoming. Perhaps the most moving item in

the room is the ‘Memorial’, its letters exquisitely
placed, silver against deep blue glass.
Another deeply engaging example of Roman
Halter’s work can be seen in his own North
Western Reform Synagogue at Alyth Gardens in
North West London. Over a period of three years,
Halter worked to enrich the simple interior with
coloured glass. Rooted at the base, young trees
grow towards the sun, filled with flowers and fruit.
Among the leaves, Halter has placed sacred symbols
along with personal memorabilia recalling each
window’s dedicatee. This time-honoured practice
of juxtaposing sacred figures with earthly donors
can be found in stained glass windows throughout
mediaeval Europe. Worshipper and visitor alike can
enjoy the artist’s emotional yet meticulous attention
to detail: the wings of a colourful insect, curve
of a green leaf, edge of a precious book, turn of a
bent head, expressed in metal and colour (fig. 7).
To complete the sequence, Halter’s son Ardyn has
created a window in a complementary technique, on
the theme of Time at the west-facing wall. It depicts
Mount Sinai and the Hebrew months of the year.
Roman Halter’s work in stained glass is both
personal and in many ways quite unique. Imagery
has been clearly and colourfully stated. Line,
used with such power in his drawings, has been
deployed with verve and imagination. To express
that line with the greatest possible force, Halter
has transformed into sculpture the connecting role
assigned to strips of lead (fig. 8). His method creates
a rare, extra dimension to the coloured composition
that traditional lead can never achieve.
He was an innovator and his work has
fig. 5
Stained glass
window frame
Leo Baeck College,
London
1985–6
Stained glass and
cast and polished
aluminium alloy
Designed and
made by Roman
Halter and Aviva
Halter‑Hurn

fig. 6
Detail of stained
glass window
frame
Leo Baeck College,
London
1985–6
Stained glass and
cast and polished
aluminium alloy

18  Roman Halter