Harvey Salvin

HARVEY SALVIN

Celebrating an
Illuminating Artistic Life

Artist • Craftsman • Educator

Illuminating – to inspire, to give light, to inform

From creating masterful paintings on discarded tin cans to designing and producing majestically scaled 50-foot high stain glass windows, Harvey found inspiration in all of his diverse and creative endeavors. Starting October 5th, this retrospective exhibit is open for you to enjoy a selection of works that will give light into his 92-year artistic journey. Prepare to be inspired.

Harvey Salvin (August 1930 – August 2022) “Painting has been the core of my creative process and purpose, even though I followed a path that led me to choose stained glass design for the majority of my career. Previously I was dedicated to being a young painter with promise under the German Expressionist Karl Zerbe at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts (BMSFA). The Korean War intervened, and after 2 years of service, I completed my 5th year of study, a serious painter, intending to go to Europe. My ticket to Europe, the GI Bill, necessitated a change of study to stained glass. After three years at the Edinburgh College of Art, punctuated by three summers in the Art Museums of Europe, I found I was enraptured equally with painting and glass.

It was the 1960’s and the Revival of the “lost art” of stained glass. Fate stepped in and I received numerous commissions and a secure teaching engagement at the BMSFA lasting several years. I initially met with opposition from the stained glass establishment in Boston after my first installation, a majestically scaled 50-foot high window in nearby Norwell, Massachusetts. This did not deter me. I continued with a number of monumental installations in New England and Great Britain.

Nevertheless, painter I remained in my heart and soul. This proved to be a great complement to my stained glass design, which was received as “a fresh approach.” As I continued work in glass, my thoughts of returning to painting were nurtured. Throughout my career, I was keeping good company, if only in my imagination, with the painters I so admired.

The long space between my life as a stained glass designer and as a painter in my later years was a time of transition, merging the energy and assurance gained in glass design with all the subtleties of painting. I broke my long “fast” in 2015 entering a painting for the Art St. Louis show “Maturity and Its Muse”, and again in 2017. I accepted an opportunity for a solo exhibition of 54 paintings at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in November 2016, and at the Ethical Society in St. Louis in May 2018. I wish for those who come to see the work of my quiet years to find satisfaction, a quiet voice, and a change of pace. “

Harvey was devoted to his family and friends. He delighted in the natural world and loved music, literature, and film. He was kind, gentle, generous, gracious, and humble. He will be greatly missed by many.