September + October 2019 ADADIROIRONNDDACACK LIFEK LIFE 4949church, but he wasn’t especially moved,
he says—either by the scripture or the
colorful windows that would someday
become his stock-in-trade. It was later,
through a neighbor who worked in
stained glass, that he became enchanted
with the medium. His religious persua-
sion—or lack thereof—never changed,
though, despite houses of worship being
among his most common clients.
In 1950, he moved to New York City for
a job with a stained-glass studio. It was
there he met his wife, Elga, a writer who
had a PhD in French literature and was
acquainted with some of the leading art-
Windows Duval designed
for Champlain Valley
Physicians Hospital in
Plattsburgh, above, and
Temple Israel, in White
Plains, left.
FACING PAGE:Kristall-
nacht, a sculpture
commissioned by SUNY
Plattsburgh in 2017.For over 30 years,
Duval had his own
stained-glass studio in
New York City, gaining
an international repu-
tation for his pioneer-
ing use of abstraction
and faceted glass, or
dalle de verre.ists and writers of the era, including the
Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The couple
mingled with the Abstract Expressionist
crowd at the famed Cedar Bar; Willem de
Kooning was a guest at their wedding.
For over 30 years, Duval had his own
stained-glass studio in New York City,
gaining an international reputation for
his strong colors, dynamic shapes and
pioneering use of abstraction and faceted
glass, or dalle de verre. His paintings and
glass designs share an Abstract Expres-
sionist aesthetic, with strongly defined
but organic shapes. Even his religious
commissions frequently interpret imag-
ery more loosely than the traditional
narrative style that began in the Middle
Ages as a way to relate Bible stories to the
illiterate masses.
After completing a design, Duval sends
it to a fabricator—he's used the same ones
for over 50 years—to construct the final
windows from hand-blown leaded glass
or dalle de verre. | Continued on page 77