French figurative painter Claire Tabouret has been chosen to create new stained glass windows for Notre Dame, which reopens on December 7 after six years of renovations. Tabre was selected by French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich and said in a statement to the media that her winning work depicts praying people from different cultural backgrounds. Celebrating Pentecost.
The painter, who now lives in Los Angeles, will collaborate with the Simon & Mark glass studio in Reims, which was drafted in to restore the cathedral, which was damaged during World War II. Founded in 1640, its distinguished clients include artists Juan Miro and Marc Chagall, and more recently the German sculptor Imi Knoebel and the French painter Jean-Paul ·Agosti (Jean-Paul Agosti). Tabouret, 43, is best known for his enigmatic portraits, often depicting introspective children without guardians, some of which have been acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and billionaire businessman and collector François Pinault. ) acquisition.
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Tabouret’s cathedral proposal was selected from 110 candidates by an arts committee and the batch was first whittled down to eight finalists. The Catholic Church reportedly explicitly instructed that the winner must be a figurative artist, immediately disqualifying abstract artists.
“This is a figurative work of art that can be understood by people from different cultures without any explanation or labeling,” Tabre said in a statement. “The colors used will echo those of the architect. At Atelier Simon -With the help of Marq, we aim to balance them so that the white light does not distort.”
France’s Culture Ministry’s plans to replace the cathedral’s historic stained-glass windows after a fire in 2019 have faced strong opposition from the national heritage committee. Critics argue that the original windows, commissioned by 19th-century architects Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus Having survived the fire that destroyed the roofs and spiers of the famous Gothic building, they should remain in view.
according to The Art Newspaper, Experts point out that this violates the 1964 Venice Charter and cultural heritage guidelines, which require that original elements be preserved unless it is impossible. A petition opposing the plan has more than 147,000 signatures, but Macron remains supportive of the project.
“In our time of war, extreme division and tension, the opportunity to use my art to promote unity through Pentecostal themes is a wonderful gesture of hope,” Tabre said.
