The Inexhaustible Gerhard Richter Will Design New Stained Glass Windows for Germany’s Oldest Monastery

Just when you think Gerhard Richter’s artistic legacy cannot
possibly grow any bigger in Germany, it does.

The world-famous—and extremely busy—artist is
designing three stained glass windows for Germany’s oldest
monastery church. The 87-year-old painter’s design is due to be
unveiled on September 4, and production will begin immediately, so
the windows can be installed over the course of the next few months
in the Benedictine Tholey Abbey, in Saarland, western Germany.

The church, which dates back to the 5th century, is undergoing
restoration, so it is likely the windows will not be fully unveiled
until the summer of 2020. In the meantime, to satisfy curious
locals, the church is due to unfurl banners showing Richter’s
designs on the building’s exterior in two weeks.

It is not the first time that the artist has created a new work
for an historic church. Richter’s Cologne Cathedral
Window is installed at the eponymous cathedral. Unveiled
in 2007, the window measures 106 square meters (1,100 square feet)
and consists of more than 11,000 glass squares in 72 colors that
are randomly arranged.

The €370,000 ($410,000) cost of the Cologne commission was met
by 1,200 donors. The artist did not accept a fee. artnet News
asked Tholey Abbey about the financial arrangement between the
church and the artist, but did not immediately hear back.

The press statement about Richter’s commission mentions a
partnership with and his friend, the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.
Richter and Pärt have collaborated since 2015, most recently on an
immersive live performance at the Shed in New York’s Hudson Yards,
which closed on June 2. Pärt will also make a new work for the
monastery church, but details of the project remain under
wraps.

The Benedictine abbey of Tholey was first mentioned in texts as
early as 634 AD, making it the oldest church in Germany.

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Stained Glass Windows for Germany’s Oldest Monastery appeared
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