Peonies Blowing in the Wind, 1889. John La Farge. Stained glass. Gift of the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation.
This vibrantly colored stained glass window achieves the illusionistic effects of a painting but with a luminosity and richness of color unattainable with oil paint. Enhancing the three-dimensional quality are sections of opalescent glass, a multicolored iridescent glass developed by John La Farge. Here, hues of red and pink meld together in the peonies' glowing petals, while deep greens and golden yellows suggest sun-dappled leaves. The window's design is based on Japanese hanging scrolls from La Farge's own collection and the borders emulate the scrolls' elaborate silk mountings. The artist created several peony windows; this is possibly the one exhibited at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle, where La Farge was awarded the Legion of Honor medal for his invention of opalescent glass.
