Church of St Mary the Virgin, Fawley, Buckinghamshire
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Church of St Mary the Virgin, Fawley Green, Fawley, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6JARecommended by
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Anthony Harley Memorial window / Tree of LifeArtist, maker and date
Designed by John Piper and interpreted in glass by Patrick Reyntiens, 1976Reason for highlighting
I know I am not alone in admiring the work of one of the most prolific stained glass collaborations of Designer/Maker found in Piper/Reyntiens, of which this window is a fairly early example.
As you will see in my other recommendations, I am a fan of the Tree of Life motif with its marriage of spiritual and secular resonance. It is a motif that Piper/Reyntiens return to on numerous occasions in a variety of ways. Here I respond to its joyful colour palette and lively growth upwards through the window applied with a loose painterly approach. It is a 20th century artwork using a medieval symbol in a predominantly 18th century church dating back to the 12th century. The successful marriage of those elements is something that inspires me to continue trying to create contemporary work using an ancient art form.
Artist/maker notes
John Egerton Christmas Piper CH (1903–1992) was an English painter, printmaker and designer of stained-glass windows, and both opera and theatre sets. He began working in stained glass in partnership with Patrick Reyntiens, whom he had met through John Betjeman, from 1950
Sources:
John Piper’s Wikipedia entry
Stained Glass: art or anti-art by John Piper (Studio Vista, 1968)
John Piper and stained glass by June Osborne (Sutton Publishing, 1997)
Patrick Reyntiens OBE (1925-2021) studied fine art at Edinburgh College of Art. He began his career in stained glass with an apprenticeship with Eddie Nuttgens, and flourished when he met and collaborated with John Piper.
Together they redefined the medium in the post war era, working on the Baptistery Window, Coventry Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral as well as numerous ecclesiastical and secular commissions in Britain and USA.
He has also been an influential teacher both through the arts centre he ran at Burleighfield House, with his wife, Anne Bruce, from 1963 to 1976, and through the 10 years he spent as Head of Fine Art at the Central School of Art and Design.
Sources:
http://patrickreyntiens.com/
From Coventry to Cochem: The Art of Patrick Reyntiens, DVD, Reyntiens Glass Studio
Patrick Reyntiens Catalogue of Stained Glass by Libby Horner (Sansom &Co, 2013)
Other comments
There are two 17th century armorial glass windows in the tower that Reyntiens repaired and releaded in 1971.
John Piper was a parishioner here and is buried in the churchyard.
The John Piper Gallery at the River & Rowing Museum, Mill Meadows, Henley on Thames is well worth a visit.