Publication:
John Piper and Coventry, in war and peace 2003
Frances Spalding
Abstract
The lead article (c.9.000 words) in one of the magazine’s centenary issues. It offers the first in-depth analysis of John Piper’s involvement with Coventry, first as a war artist, in the immediate aftermath of the blanket bombing that took place on 14 November 1940, and, secondly, in terms of his contribution to the new post-war cathedral, through the making of the stained-glass window for the Baptistery and the design of vestments. The commissions were contextualised, both in relation to history, official patronage, the revival of interest in abstract art and developments with stained-glass design within France. Original use was made of documentary material in the Coventry Cathedral Archives and in the John Piper archive and of two interviews with Piper’s assistant, the stained-glass makes Patrick Reyntiens. The essay uncovered the deep logic of reparation and reconstruction that connected Piper’s 1940s paintings of ruination with the elemental trumpet call of the Baptistry window
- The Burlington Magazine
- Volume: 145
- Number: 1204
- Pagination: 488-500
- Date: 2003-07-01
- ISBN/ISSN: 0007-6287
|
Prof. Frances Spalding
|
|
|
|
