Gabriel Loire

Christ in Triumph over Darkness and Evil (1982), St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa, in memory of Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

Gabriel Loire (April 21, 1904 – December 25, 1996) was a French stained glass artist of the twentieth century whose extensive works, portraying various persons or historical scenes, appear in many venues around the world. He founded the Loire Studio in Chartres, France which continues to produce stained glass windows. Loire was a leader in the modern use of "slab glass" (French: dalle de verre), which is much thicker and stronger than the stained glass technique of the Middle Ages. The figures in his windows are mostly Impressionistic in style.[1]

His life

Loire was born in Pouancé, France, on April 21, 1904. After completing his schooling in Angers in 1926, he went to a stained glass workshop in Chartres, France. In 1946, he founded his own stained glass studio there, which continues under the direction of his son Jacques Loire and grandsons.[2]

He died on Christmas Day, December 25, 1996, shortly after finishing a design for a new window.[1]

His works in stained glass

Loire often expressed the view, "La paix donne la joie" ("Peace gives joy") and particularly liked working with shades of blue, which he said represented to him the color of peace.[1] His stained glass artistry, blending modern and traditional elements, attained wide acceptance, as indicated by the considerable output of the Loire Studio displayed around the world.[1] In addition to more than 450 installations in France, Loire's works are found in Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Japan, Chile, Canada, Australia and the United States of America.

Some of his important commissions were for churches rebuilt after destruction in World War II, in particular the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche) in Berlin, Germany (1960) and the Church of St. Walberge, Xertigny, Lorraine, France (1951–1952). His greatest post-war work is in the Church of Saint Paul, Whiteinch, Glasgow (1960). It consists of 162 Square metres of curved window set in cement and embedded with chipped glass. The main panels depict the life of Saint Paul and are ably supported in the side altar by panels of the Virgin and the roof of the Baptismal font. He has other works in the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor, Broomhill (1965). Though the technique here is not of chipped glas but more of painted glass. The significance of these works has been noted by the Scottish Government by listing the buildings with, "B" orders.

His celebrated Christ in Triumph over Darkness and Evil was dedicated in 1982 at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, in memory of British war hero Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India.[3]

For St. Andrew's Wesley Church in Vancouver, Canada, Loire created three different commissions: in 1969, a set of six windows dedicated to women in the Bible; also in 1969, “The Great Commission”, based on Mark 16:15 “Go ye into the all the world”; and in 1981, a set of eight windows based on Romans 9:4–5.

Other notable works include Loire's stained glass windows designed in 1962 for Whatley Chapel at Johnson & Wales University in Denver, CO, and in 1980 for Salisbury Cathedral in England, as well as in 1967 for Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. In 1958 he provided an extensive and "remarkable" scheme of dalle de verre glass for the new Roman Catholic church in Chichester, West Sussex.[4]

Two large and striking windows were completed for St Augustine's Chapel in Cork, Ireland in about 1972. These windows measure 12.5 metres in height and about 2 metres wide; the glass is solid coloured, not stained, glass. This glass is approximately 26 millimetres thick and is described as valle-de-verre, flagstones of glass, set in concrete and forming an integral load-bearing part of the building. Please see thumbnails.

Gabriel Loire created a suite of magnificent windows for Christ Church (Episcopal) in Hamilton, Massachusetts.

Gallery of Gabriel Loire's works

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Margaret Ann Cox, "Loire Studio – a French Connection", Just Words, November, 2006.
  2. ↑ Véronique and Xavier Debendère, Gabriel Loire, L’œuvre d’une vie. Paris: Somogy, 2005 (ISBN 978-2-85056-850-3).
  3. ↑ "The Great West Window of St. Georges Cathedral". St. Georges Cathedral. 2006.
  4. ↑ "English Heritage Review of Diocesan Churches 2005 (Extract): St Richard of Chichester, Chichester" (PDF). English Heritage. 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2012.

External links

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