Gabriel Loire, detail of west window (1962), St Richard of Chichester Catholic Church, Chichester, West Sussex.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

Gabriel Loire, detail of south clerestory windows (1962), St Richard of Chichester Catholic Church, Chichester, West Sussex.

Photo: Peter Hildebrand

St Richard of Chichester Catholic Church, Chichester, West Sussex

Address

St Richard of Chichester Catholic Church, Cawley Rd, Chichester PO19 1XB

Recommended by

Sasha Ward (10)

Highlight

West Window – Our Blessed Lady

Artist, maker and date

Gabriel Loire, 1962

Reason for highlighting

This Catholic Church is filled with dalle de verre windows by Gabriel Loire. The light inside the church and the material quality of the glass is incredible. The series of windows shows you the possibilities of the medium, how chunks of glass and concrete can be used not only to make patterns but also to tell stories in detail. Included here are biblical scenes, such as the story of Elijah being fed by a white raven and David playing his harp (shown opposite) and contemporary designs illustrating life in the city.

Other comments

Complete 1960s church interior, architects Tomei & Maxwell, who had developed a practice which specialised in building for the Catholic Church.

Artist/maker notes

Gabriel Loire (1904-96) studied at the École des Beaux-Arts before joining the Lorin stained glass studio in Chartres in 1926. Looking for more creative freedom he left in 1936, but a non-competition agreement prevented him from working in stained glass for 10 years. In 1946 he founded the current firm of Atelier Loire, rapidly building a reputation that took his work around the world. As Charles Pratt explains, “the rapid success of the Loire (firm) can be explained by the quality of its work, its rhythms, its colours, the expressive readability of its figurative stained glass windows and the emotionally charged but accessible vigour of its abstract .” Management of the studio passed to Gabriel’s son Jacques Loire (b.1932) in 1970, and to his sons Bruno Loire (b.1959) and Hervé Loire (b.1961) in 1991.

Sources:
Atelier Loire website
Gabriel Loire Les Vitraux/Stained Glass by Charles W Pratt and Joan C Pratt (Centre international du Vitrail, 1996)

Highlighted dates at this location

1962 (Go to date search)

All artists mentioned at this location

Loire, Gabriel