French figurative painter Claire Tabouret has been chosen to create new stained glass windows for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which reopened on December 7 after a six-year-long renovation. Tabouret was selected by French president Emmanuel Macron and the Paris archbishop, Laurent Ulrich, and said in a statement to the press that her winning project depicts praying people from different cultural background celebrating the Pentecost.
The painter is based in Los Angeles and will collaborate with Simon-Marq storied glass studio in Reims, which was once enlisted to restore cathedrals damaged during World War II. Founded in 1640, its illustrious clientele counts artists Juan Miro and Marc Chagall, and more recently, German sculptor Imi Knoebel and French painter Jean-Paul Agosti. Tabouret, 43, is known for her enigmatic portraiture, often featuring introspective children free from chaperones, pieces of which have been acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and billionaire businessman and collector François Pinault.
Tabouret’s proposal for the cathedral was chosen from a pool of 110 candidates by an artistic committee who first whittled the lot to eight finalists. The Catholic Church reportedly gave explicit instructions that the winner must be a figurative artist, immediately disqualifying abstract artist.
“A figurative work of art,” Tabouret said in a statement, “Can be understood, without explanation or label, by people from different cultures. The colors used will echo those of the architect. With the help of Atelier Simon-Marq, the goal will be to balance them so as not to distort the white light.”
The French Ministry of Culture’s plan to replace the historic stained-glass windows of the cathedral in the wake of the 2019 blaze has faced signification opposition from the National Heritage Commission. Detractors have argued that as the original windows, commissioned by 19th-century architects Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus, survived the fire that ripped through the roof and spire of the famous Gothic structure, they should remain on view.
According to The Art Newspaper, experts cited violations of the 1964 Venice Charter and cultural heritage guidelines, which calls for the preservation of original elements unless otherwise impossible. A petition against the plan garnered more than 147,000 signatures, however Macron maintained his support for the project.
“In times like ours, marked by war, extreme division, and tension, this opportunity to use my art to promote unity through the theme of the Pentecost is a wonderful gesture of hope,” Tabouret said.
