Francois Pierre Fourmaintraux (known as Pierre) (1896-1974) was a renowned glass artist who is credited with having introduced the

dalle de verre ''Dalle de verre'', from French: "glass slab", is a glass art technique that uses pieces of coloured glass set in a matrix of concrete and epoxy resin or other supporting material. Technique The technique was developed by Jean Gaudin in Paris i ...

technique to the UK and having taught other influential glass artists such as

Dom Charles Norris Dom Charles Norris OSB (1909-2004) was an influential artist who created works in stained glass and dalle de verre for Roman Catholic churches in the UK. He is thought to be the most prolific artist working in dalle de verre in the UK in the 20t ...

Personal life

Pierre Fourmaintraux was born Francois Pierre Fourmaintraux in Metz, France in 1896. Pierre moved to the UK and married an English wife Rachel Winslow (1880-1974), who was an impressionist painter, settling in Harrow. He retired in 1969 and died in 1974 at the age of 78.

Career

While in France Fourmaintraux produced conventional leaded stained glass, but after World War II changed to the dalle de verre technique, joining

James Powell and Sons The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were London-based English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained glass window manufacturers. As ''Whitefriars Glass'', the company existed from the 17th century, but became well k ...

(later Whitefriars Glass) in the UK. He is credited with introducing the dalle de verre technique to the UK, a technique that was already popular in France. From 1956, Fourmaintraux was Powell's chief designer of slab glass and abstract windows. His first dalle de verre for the UK was said to be 2 small windows for St Peter's

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

. He is said to have taught the dalle de verre technique to

who became one of the most celebrated and prolific users of the technique. Whitefriars identified their glass with a small image of a hooded friar, usually in a bottom corner of the window. Fourmaintraux identified his own glass by adding his initials PF near the friar.

Works

Notable buildings

St Raphael the Archangel, Millbrook, Stalybridge A Grade II listed church designed by Edward J Massey of architects' practice Massey and Massey of Warrington (1961-3). The church's listing by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

notes: "the mosaic-like appearance of the prominent dalle de verre screen, in a bold modern design of geometric blockiness and stepped massing culminating in the dominant circular dome." It goes on to say: "the church is a showcase for contemporary arts and crafts, being embellished with Pierre Fourmaintraux's extensive figurative dalle de verre screen of Tobias and the Archangel whose brilliant colours and organic forms epitomise good 1960s ecclesiastical glass design and dramatically enrich the interior space".

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

commented in a report on St Raphael's: "The screen is a good example of 1960s ecclesiastical glass design...It is a relatively early example, preceding the glass at Liverpool Cathedral, and is of interest in being figurative, rather than the more usual abstract schemes employing dalle de verre glass...Both Fourmaintraux and Boyson have listed work elsewhere and their work here undoubtedly adds to the artistic interest of the building." The church was threatened with demolition in 2011 but was saved and listed (Grade II). Christ Church, Frankpledge Road,

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

Other works

According to Robert Proctor, Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Bath University, Fourmaintraux works include windows for: * St Augustine,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

* St Aiden, East Acton, London - windows representing six of the martyrs * English Martyrs, Horley - stations of the cross. Fourmaintraux also produced works for: * New Zealand’s Hall of Memory in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

(1964) * Lumen Reformed Church - the Resurrection * St Peter, Bristol. * St Barnabas’s in Lovely Lane, Pewsey,

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

(1963) * St Chad's, Leasowe * St George's Church, Britwell * St Raphael, Yeading,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

* St Clements, Ewell - eight windows depicting the Beatitudes, * St Helens Crematorium Chapel, St. Helens, Merseyside - Dalle de Verre windows.

Museums and preservation

In 2008 the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum (fou ...

gifted the Rakow Library (the Research Library of the Corning Museum of Glass) the Whitefriars Collection, consisting of 1,800 cartoons (or working drawings). The Rakow Library received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop an innovative methodology for preserving, digitizing, and making accessible this collection. Preservation work undertaken includes cartoons from Fourmaintraux's windows in St. Peter’s Church, Lawrence Weston, Bristol, and for the War Memorial in Auckland, New Zealand. A pen and ink and watercolour drawing for Fourmaintraux's design of an abstract dalle de verre window for the 'Golden Ball', public house, Campo Lane,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

is now in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London. The museum also holds a pen and ink and watercolour drawing for 15 small stained-glass windows of abstract design for Narberth Crematorium, near

Porthcawl Porthcawl (, ) is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, west of the capital city, Cardiff and southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourmaintraux, Pierre 1896 births 1974 deaths French stained glass artists and manufacturers English stained glass artists and manufacturers Artists from Metz Place of death missing French emigrants to the United Kingdom