Sotter was both a stained-glass artist and a painter known for his winter nocturnes. Here the piercing white stars are echoed in small flares of lamplight from stone buildings huddled in snowy fields beyond the mill. The mill itself is dark and mysterious, possibly empty, a state underscored by its reflection in the frigid water.
Sotter was born in Pittsburgh and began his career apprenticing in local stained-glass studios before becoming a partner in Horace Rudy’s studio around 1901. He then moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. From 1910 to 1919, he taught painting and design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. In 1919 Sotter moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. By then a leading designer of stained glass, he received commissions for churches and monasteries nationwide. Sotter was also closely connected to Woodmere, where his first museum exhibition was held in 1946. Woodmere acquired Old Mill, Neshaminy Creek directly from the show.
