Sanderson Hotel, London W1
Address
Sanderson Hotel, 50 Berners Street, London W1T 3NGRecommended by
Highlight
Backdrop to an open plain staircase leading to the first floorArtist, maker and date
Designed by John Piper and interpreted in glass by Patrick Reyntiens, 1959-60Reason for highlighting
The Sanderson window has so many of the qualities of Piper’s finest prints and paintings. It has the formal structure of his earliest abstract works and the brilliant colour and enthusiasm for unusual textural effects that characterised his landscapes. Sumptuous.
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 on Wikipedia
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.
Source:
Patrick Reyntiens website
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
A couple of hundred metres up the road is the Fitzrovia Chapel, which is open most Wednesdays. An absolute gem by J. L. Pearson, with glass by Clayton & Bell, that is a must see.
Further reading: The 100 Best Stained Glass Sites in London by Caroline Swash, Malvern Arts Press, 2015