Five years after the fire that destroyed much of the cathedral, artist Claire Tabouret explains how her stained glass windows will give Notre Dame a modern look and the "contemporary gesture" that Emmanuel Macron promised..
Before she was chosen from more than 100 artists to design the six new windows, Tabouret had only a select group of admirers, including billionaire and art collector François Pinault, but she was not a household name to the general public. Today, her fame has changed. Late last month, the first retrospective exhibition of her work opened at the Museum Voorlinden near The Hague. In Paris, her window designs are on display at the Grand Palais before being installed at Notre Dame later this year, at an estimated cost of 4 million euros.
Tabouret doesn't take critics personally. "There are people who hate the project, no matter what," she says. "They haven't even looked at the designs. They spread hate online, but the messages show they don't understand the subject. And I'm getting a lot of love, too."
The exhibition in Voorlinden, Weaving Waters, Weaving Gestures, demonstrates the diversity of her art and explores identity and human relationships through paintings on canvas, plush, Plexiglas, bronze and ceramics. The colors are always intense and vibrant.
Tabouret did not immediately think of applying for the windows of Notre Dame. After the fire in April 2019, Macron promised to rebuild the cathedral within five years with a “contemporary gesture,” paving the way for the most outlandish ideas: a glass spire, a carbon fiber flame, a rooftop pool, or a covered garden. The idea of replacing the intact windows in the six chapels on the cathedral’s south wing caused controversy.
There are seven-meter-high monochrome windows, installed in the 19th century, that are valued more historically than aesthetically. A cultural committee and the Academy of Fine Arts were against the plan for replacement, and activists were unable to stop it. “It intrigued me,” says Tabouret. “It’s not very French to change things, and this seemed bold and fresh to me.”
She entered the competition and was ultimately selected from a shortlist of eight artists. The specific theme was Pentecost, the biblical moment when the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles, marking the beginning of the church. Tabouret created 60 sketches for the six windows, exploring the narrative with groups of people, rough seas and trees swaying in the wind, in a vibrant palette of blues, reds, greens and purples.
The windows are made at the Atelier Simon-Marq, a nearly 400-year-old glass workshop that has previously housed artists such as Marc Chagall and Joan Miró. Each window consists of around 50 pieces of stained glass. Church authorities gave Tabouret “complete artistic freedom” and only asked that it not obstruct the white light of the cathedral’s interior.
“When you live in a place with so much history and heritage, you can’t freeze time,” Tabouret says. “The question is how to create a harmonious dialogue between the new layers in buildings like Notre Dame.”
Tabouret, 44, left the US last year and now lives 90 minutes south of Paris with her American husband and their two young daughters, as well as a collection of pets. She feels most alive in her studio, and her exhibitions, from painted dresses to giant sketches, show her energy and passion for contemporary art. /GazetaExpress/
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