Some five hundred buildings, public monuments (civil and religious) or private buildings throughout the world today attest to the notoriety and influence of the work of Francis Chigot (1879-1960). Almost forty years after the last retrospective dedicated to the brilliant colorist and long and patient research conducted by the Francis Chigot Association, the time had come to pay tribute to this prominent figure in the history of the stained glass window.
Supported by the DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Limoges Museum of Fine Arts and the City of the stained glass window of Troyes will organize an exhibition dedicated to the artistic achievements of the first glass painting workshop of the Limousin created by Francis Chigot, at the beginning of the XXe century. This immense and exceptional production of stained glass windows will be brought to full light thanks to a significant selection of stained glass windows, models, cartons and stained glass sketches designed in Limoges between 1907 and 1960. Various documents (photographic plates and prints, advertisements, etc.) or works (enamels, pastels, etc.) will also try to illuminate these works. The latter were selected in order to show the diversity of the workshop’s productions, whether by their destinations (private or public, civil or religious) or by their styles (Art Nouveau or Art Deco). All testify to Chigot’s talent as a colorist, using glass as a palette or lead as a brush.
Of October 22 2022 to February 12, 2023:Give yourself direction!
The exhibition follows chronologically the biography of Francis Chigot and the development of his workshop, without avoiding possible detours in order to highlight certain more singular aspects.
In addition, a technical area will give keys to understanding this know-how (working methods, evocation of an emblematic composition and restoration). Beyond the graphic works exhibited, the models, cartons and digitized photographs will make the visitor travel around the world through the glazed realizations, fortunately always in situ (Canada, USA, Guinea, etc.).
A 30-minute documentary (including testimonies from former workshop members) will be broadcast in the auditorium located near the stained glass windows of the Liaison Gallery, which will be accompanied by some preparatory drawings and models.
A catalogue accompanies the exhibition, bringing together essays by the best specialists in stained glass and offering a lighting on all the works presented (Liénart éditions, 280p. 30€).
Not to manquer:
In addition to the guided tours, the museum offers a play-tour for young audiences as well as a space, «the workshop», in which everyone can become a glass master and compose his windows.
Several conferences will also be offered, in connection with the association of the Friends of the Museum, as well as stained glass workshops. As an echo of what was one of Francis Chigot’s sources of inspiration for the development of his stained glass windows, a jazz concert will close the exhibition.
Exposure to Mworn out by the Beaux-Arts of Limoges and beyond
Labeled UNESCO Creative City, Limoges has a long tradition around the arts of fire. As such, the City Museum of Fine Arts has an exceptional collection of enamels and presents, in its permanent collections, a dozen stained glass windows from Francis Chigot’s workshop. It was therefore natural for the Museum to highlight the local and central character of this art. The co-production of the exhibition with the Cité du Vitrail de Troyes allows the expertise of the two institutions to converge, both from a scientific and technical point of view and to propose a roaming of the exhibition outside the Limousin region. By playing on the effects of light and transparency, the contribution of the Cité du vitrail in the scenography offers an exhibition that best highlights the stained glass windows.
The exhibition will also present works by Francis Chigot belonging to the collections of the museum, now in reserve, in the image of the triptych of theAfternoon of a wildlife, and to have them restored if necessary, notably by the stained glass workshop, heir to the Chigot workshop.
Francis Chigot
In addition to his classical high school education, Francis Chigot entered the National School of Decorative Art in Limoges (ENAD) at the age of 15. Covered with first prizes, at the age of 20 he continued his studies at the Decorative Arts of Paris and at the Académie Julian. At the 1900 Universal Exhibition, he discovered the civil works on glass of the Ecole de Nancy whose flexible style and flourished enthusiasm. When his father died in 1903, he was forced to leave the capital to take over as head of the painting-glass-decoration company. However, he quickly decided to give priority to the stained glass window, to the point of dedicating to it four years later a local, a real act of foundation of his master-glassmaker workshop. From then on, he subtly applied the principles of Art Nouveau. Orders are rapidly coming in, both in the field of the creation and restoration of stained glass windows of churches, as well as from private individuals, for shops, offices or houses (staircases, windows of winter gardens, ceilings...).
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