Rural German Monks Hope Their Abbey’s New Gerhard Richter-Designed Stained Glass Windows Will Help Convert Art Lovers to the Church

The contemplative life of the Benedictine monks from Germany’s
Tholey Abbey is about to be interrupted by the jet-setting art
world. This September, three stained glass windows designed by
German artist Gerhard Richter will adorn their sixth-century place
of worship in the small western town of Tholey.

The art star’s new project is sure to replace the monastery’s
relative quiet with swarms of curious art pilgrims seeking out the
newest public work by one of the nation’s greatest artistic prides.
Between prayers, the monastery members are already discussing the
issue of too few parking spaces. To handle that and other tasks
associated with being newly “on the map,” the monks have set up a
foundation to handle its long to-do list.

One of Richter’s windows is being presented to the public over
the weekend at an open studio event at the Gustav van Treeck
glass workshops in Munich. The intricate designs, inspired by an
earlier abstract painting series, exude kaleidoscopic psychedelia
countered by a sense of meditative calm and exacting precision,

This is not Richter’s first stained glass window installed in a
German church. In his current home city of Cologne, Richter’s
south-facing window stands among the classic stained panels of the
Cologne Dome, which sits on a square across from the bustling
central station. The original 13th-century window had been blown
out during World War II. At any time of day, a cluster of
visitors gazes up at the hyper-modernist, abstract wonder as its
little cubes of light dance across the floor.

But Tholey, located in the sleepy southern state of
Saarland, is a very different kind of place. Richter’s church
installation there—much more complicated than his previous one in
Cologne—will almost certainly upend the way of life for the small
town’s 12,000 residents.In the first year, 100,000 guests are
expected to visit, according to DPA (the German Associated
Press).

The abbey hopes to bring people back to the faith through,
presumably, the buzz of the new, the transcendence of light, and
the draw of Richter, whose godlike status in Germany is well
established.

“The hopefully great popularity of the project we want to
achieve in accordance with our monastic, rather reclusive lives,”
read a statement from the abbey in February. To that end, the
monastery has established an operating company and a tourist center
that will handle the influx of visitors, called the Tholey Abbey
Foundation. It will be the link, or barrier, between the public and
the most pious corners of the monastery, in which 13 monks reside
and work. It will also handle the training of visitor guides,
tours, and marketing.

The monastery spokespeople say that they hope the renewed
interest in the abbey will give a renewed sense of faith to its
visitors. “The gift from Gerhard Richter naturally plays a central
role in this,” says Thorsten Klein, founding director of the Tholey
Abbey Foundation. “The task will be to share the art of the most
important living artist in the world with the Church in order to,
together, engage tourism.”

Turning Abstract Art Into Light

The three windows, which are 30 feet tall, are inspired by
Richter’s 1990 abstract series (which was reworked again in 2009).
It’s part of a large renovation, and both that and the
commissioning of the windows is being supported by Meiser, an
industrial stair and grating company also based in Saarland.
Renovations include a refacing of some of the walls and better
lighting systems. “Brightness and friendliness were our goal,”
brother Wendelinus told the local paper Saarbrücker
Zeitung.

Each window has five different motifs that are vertically and
horizontally mirrored in a painstaking process involving digital
imaging and careful handiwork. The artworks on the windows are
inspired by Abstract Painting from 1990, listed 724-4 in
the artist’s catalogue
raisonné. The oil on canvas, which sold at Christie’s for
£769,600 ($1.3 million) in 2006, became an inspiration for several
mirrored paintings from 2009, including the
works Yusuf, Musa, as well
as Abdu. The glass experts met with the artist
in his Cologne studio on multiple occasions to discuss the complex
process.

“Unlike the Cologne windows, Gerhard Richter presents us with
playful, detailed, and colorful designs for Tholey as well as big
design and technical challenges,” says artistic director and
managing director Katja Zukic. “We have to get the images onto the
glass in an optimal way. Using digital image processing supports
our traditional craftsmanship.” To achieve the nuances of Richter’s
layered oil, the glassworkers must also layer colored glasses
rather than simply applying colors on top of each other.

“Staining glass is a unique and living process,” she adds.

For now, Richter, who is, for the record, agnostic, seems
pleased with the work of the Munich workshop: “I am very surprised
how well you have been able to transform my design into the huge
dimensions of the windows,” the workshop quoted him saying in a
press release. “You have mastered the complexity of a small model
so expertly in stained glass.” He added that he looks forward to
seeing how well it works installed in Tholey.

There are another 34 new stained glass windows in the works for
Tholey Abbey based on designs by Afghanistan-born, Munich-based
artist Mahbuba Elham Maqsoodi which will be more figurative in
nature.

The post Rural German Monks Hope Their Abbey’s New Gerhard
Richter-Designed Stained Glass Windows Will Help Convert Art Lovers
to the Church appeared first on artnet News.