Church of All Saints, Tudeley, Kent
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Church of All Saints, Tudeley, Tonbridge, Kent TN11 0NZRecommended by
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Complete schemeArtist, maker and date
Designed by Marc Chagall and made by Atelier Simon-Marq, 1967-85Reason for highlighting
A beautiful series of windows filling a small church with a rare unity, by an important modern artist.
Artist/maker notes
Marc Chagall (born Moïche Zakharovitch Chagalov) (1887–1985) was a Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin. An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in a wide range of artistic formats, including painting, drawings, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic tapestries and fine art prints.
He came to stained glass late in life, not making his first important windows, at Assy, France, until 1956.
Source: Marc Chagall on Wikipedia
Atelier Simon-Marq formerly Atelier Jacques Simon
Founded by Pierre Simon in the mid-seventeenth century this is one of the oldest companies in France. It gained a new lease of life in 1957 when Brigitte Simon and her husband Charles Marq began to pave the way for a new vision, not only for their business but also for the art world. They were the first people in France to promote the great painters of the time, commissioning them to create stained glass windows in civil and religious buildings. The work of Charles Marq in interpreting the designs of Marc Chagall and others echoes the collaboration of John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens in Britain.
Sources:
Atelier Simon Marq
The Instant When by Taittinger -Atelier Simon Marq
Other comments
The magnificent and moving east window was the first to be commissioned. It was designed as a memorial tribute to Sarah d’Avigdor-Goldsmid, who died in 1963, aged 21, in a sailing accident off Rye.
More information on the windows and Chagall’s work in England can be found in ‘Chagall at Chichester and Tudeley’, Otter Memorial Paper, Number 14, University College Chichester, 2002, copies of which can usually be found at the church.