Roman Halter • Life and Art through Stained Glass 1 | Page 9

artist son, Ardyn, that he liked to think
of his paintings as “cartoons” or designs
for stained glass. The same sculptural
threading, which holds together the
coloured glass at Alyth, can be seen
in the bold seams of monumental oils
such as Shlomo Hanged – depicting the
brutal murder of his brother for a simple
act of altruism during the Shoah – or
the delicate lace lattice in Woman in
Mantilla – a poignant memorial to the
artist’s mother.
Forty-two extraordinary, condensed
watercolours that depict the beautiful
English idyll of Dorset, the home
county of Halter’s artist daughter
Aviva Halter-Hurn, are compelling
testimony to the power of direct visual
communication. These serene pastorals
are violently intruded upon by graphic
depictions and eerily detached prose
accounts of Holocaust atrocities.
Halter’s near-perpetual staging of the
beautiful alongside the horrifying is
one of the defining characteristics of his
artistic vision.
We have many to thank for their
part in bringing this complex critical
assessment to fruition, especially
essay writers Colin Wiggins, Special
Projects Curator at The National
Gallery, London, who brings a unique
and intimate insight to the man and
the artist, and Caroline Swash, a third
generation practitioner and historian of
stained glass, who never met Halter but

now wishes she had. Our sincere thanks
also go to Roman’s wife Susan Halter
for her unending warmth and support;
to his three children Aloma, Aviva and
Ardyn, all of whom have left their mark
on the project; special mention and
gratitude must be accorded to Ardyn
whose intimate knowledge, patience
and guidance has been invaluable to us;
to Roman Halter’s friends Trevor and
Daniela Pears and the Pears Foundation
for their generous support enabling
the publication of this book which will
provide a lasting record of Halter the
artist; to Chris Stephens at Tate Britain
for his invaluable insights and analysis;
to Alan Slingsby for his understanding
and sensitive design of the book; and last
but certainly not least to my colleagues
at Ben Uri including Rachel Dickson,
Sarah MacDougall, Andrea Fam and
particularly Thomas Hughes who have
dedicated much of the past year to
delivering this exhibition.
Halter’s work in paint and glass is as
much about the symbolic as the aesthetic
qualities of light. This exhibition pays
tribute to a man devoted to the design
of pure colour and light, in spite of the
darkest childhood experiences – a life
and art through stained glass.
David J Glasser
Executive Chairman

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