The commissions I
have seen include work by mainstream artists and architects including: Norman Adams, Jean Bazaine, Pierre Bonnard, Anthony Caro, Marc Chagall, Brian Clarke, Jean Cocteau, Stephen Cox, Maurice Denis, Tracy Emin, Jacob Epstein, Elizabeth Frink, Eric Gill, Evie Hone, Alexander Klecki, Christopher Le Brun,
Le Corbusier,
Fernand Léger,
Jean Lurçat,
Alfred Manessier,
Henri Matisse,
Tomas Mikulas,
Henry Moore,
Maurice Novarina,
Tom Phillips,
Renzo Piano,
John Piper,
Francis Pollen,
Germaine Richier,
Georges Rouault,
Alberto Sartoris,
Albert Servaes,
Gino Severini,
Basil Spence,
Stanley Spencer,
Graham Sutherland,
Theis & Khan,
Bill Viola and
Adrian Wisniewski. Alongside these commissions are others (i.e.
Benedict Read’s “alternative world of Church decoration”) by artists for whom such
commissions formed or form a significant part of their practice, including:
Peter Eugene Ball,
Marian Bohusz-Szyszko,
Paul Bony,
Ervin Bossanyi,
Mark Cazalet,
Alexandre Cingria,
Thomas Denny,
Leonard Evetts,
Hans Feibusch,
Marcel Feuillat,
Albert Ghaeng,
John Hayward,
Jean Hebert-Stevens,
Adam Kossowski,
Nicholas Mynheer,
Marcel Poncet,
Jane Quail, and
Henry Shelton.
Within many of
the commissions visited specific commissioners, curators or broker/support
organisations had played key roles. These included: Art & Christianity Enquiry (ACE), Art in Sacred Places (ASP), Ateliers d'Arte Sacré, Christian Artists,
commission4mission, Marie-Alain Couturier, Meryl Doney, Guild of Catholic Artists and Craftsmen, Guild of St Joseph & St Dominic, Fr. Hingley, Walter Hussey, Peter Judd, L’Arche, Fr. Lynch, Societie de Saint Luc et St Maurice, and Society of Catholic Artists.
Commissions can
be categorized as follows:
·
single
commissions;
·
series
of commissions over a different time-frame;
·
series
of commissions in the same time-frame; and
·
programme
of temporary commissions.
Issues to be
addressed within such commissions include:
(i)
Harmonisation versus dialogue/dissonance
This relates to
commissions in settings where there is existing artwork/architecture and
concerns the extent to which the new commission is integrated with whatever is
already there or by being dissonant raises questions about what is already
there. Artworks integrated within the life and architecture of a church are not
viewed in the same way as works within the white cube of a gallery space and
this needs to be understood and handled with sensitivity during the commissioning
process. The result can be a sense of overall integrity and harmony within a
space which holds great variety and diversity. Where this occurs the whole and
its constituent parts image something of the Trinitarian belief – the one and
the many - which is at the heart of Christianity.
Harmonisation is
used most frequently with single commissions or a series of commissions over a
different time-frame. At St Alban Romford Fr. Roderick Hingley has created
links of colour, shape, texture and symbol that have led to the integration of commissions
into a re-ordered space which enhances worship and is also aesthetically
pleasing. At Chelmsford Cathedral former Dean, Peter Judd, used this approach
when he commissioned Cazalet’s engraved St Cedd window in St Cedd’s Chapel as a
counter-balance to John Hutton’s engraved St Peter window in St Peter’s Chapel. St Paul’s Goodmayes provides another example of this approach.
In other
situations churches such as Metz Cathedral or Sint Aldegondis Deurle seem to
have commissioned work without an overall scheme or plan for harmonization, yet
do not appear to have become incoherent spaces. In many
Belgian churches contemporary art is integrated with the artwork of the past in
a melange of different styles which, while not specifically harmonised,
nevertheless possesses integrity. It must be a great encouragement to
contemporary artists to see churches, already rich in heritage, wishing to
continue to develop and add to that tradition from the work of their own day
and time.
Expressionist images
of the crucifixion introduced a sense of dialogue or dissonance by challenging
sentimental images of Christ and deliberately introducing ugliness into
beautiful buildings. Dissonance most often occurs in relation to temporary
commissions, such as that at St Paul’s Cathedral. The interventions there
fulfil the key requirement of installation art; “a friction with its context
that resists organisational pressure and instead exerts its own terms of
engagement.”
(ii)
Curatorial vision versus artistic vision
Artworks
commissioned for churches by necessity function as an element within a broader
architectural, aesthetic and liturgical scheme and, for some artists, this
sense that the art and the artist's vision is subordinate to a bigger, broader
vision can be a part of the reason why church commissions are unattractive and
unpursued.
At St Mary & All Angels Little Walsingham a note from
the Director of Art in Churches says that the artworks commissioned there have
been carefully placed to distinguish them from liturgical artefacts also in the
church. He wants them to be seen as ‘works of art’ in a way that differs from
the liturgical artefacts and enriches the areas of our spiritual being which
extend beyond 'the confines of the spiritual liturgical.' This note illustrates
a strand of thinking which sees art and artists as independent of though
complementary to the Church, as opposed to the thinking in the Liturgical
Movement, where art is the handmaid of the liturgy. Both have value, while both
also raise issues for debate and discussion. Justine Grace, in The Spirit of Collaboration, writes of church commissions being perceived in modernism as
being ‘ruled by the
dogmatic prescriptions of the church rather than the artistic imagination’.
At the same time, the example provided at Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce du Plateau d'Assy, where contemporary ‘masters’ were explicitly commissioned by Pére
Marie-Alain Couturier, is, as noted by William S. Rubin, in some instances, of
artists unfamiliar with the liturgy translating the subjects chosen into
‘purely personal philosophies’ (Modern Sacred Art and the Church of Assy, Columbia University Press, New York
& London, 1961).
Notre-Dame de
Toute Grâce on the Plateau d’Assy was planned as showcase for the value of contemporary
church commissions. Couturier took on the primary role of curator but, as most
of the commissions included were on the basis of his friendships with the
artists involved, his decisions he made or did not make illustrate the tricky
balance required to succeed in commissioning.
Too much work was
commissioned for Assy from too many artists making the resulting iconographic
scheme muddled and esoteric. There are inappropriate clashes of style (e.g. the Jacques Lipchitz sculpture dominating the Rouault windows or different styles in each
of the nave windows), inappropriate positioning of some works (e.g. stained
glass by Bazaine and reliefs by Chagall which can barely be seen), commissions
which do not work in the space (e.g. the intimiste style of Bonnard is not
suited to being viewed from a distance) and central commissions with esoteric
symbolism (e.g. the Lurçat tapestry).
Couturier,
presumably to sustain his friendships with the artists involved, seems not to
have exercised sufficient control regarding the overall scheme which therefore
means that the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts. By contrast,
Sutherland had to fight for aspects of his vision for the tapestry at Coventry Cathedral and needed the support of Spence in order to do so in the face of
requests for change from Cathedral staff.
The
architecture and artworks at a church like the Church of the Annunciation Little Walsingham illustrates what can be achieved when using artists who are
either involved with the ‘alternative’ world of church decoration or who are
not generally reckoned to be contemporary ‘masters’
(iii)
Treasure casket versus integrated design
Spence described
Coventry Cathedral as a plain jewel casket filled with many jewels. In other
words the building is architecturally plain - essentially a white rectangle -
with the aim that this simplicity and minimalism will show off the artworks to
best effect and that the significance and impact of these works will bring the
building to life as a place of worship.
Spence was “the
co-ordinator of the whole operation of commissioning artists and craftsmen with
the skills to create a variety of elements, including glass, congenially juxtaposed
and working together as a whole.” “Spence believed that the architect, as
leader of the team, should collaborate at the earliest possible stage with his
engineers and artists. With the art in progress there was also a reduced risk
of it being lost in any subsequent budget cut. He was therefore careful to
commission work from the outset. Artists were sought to suit each project and
the artist’s freedom was maintained.”
The desire to
preserve is at its strongest, however, when a church is built as a complete,
integrated artistic and architectural unit in a particular style, whether
Neo-Gothic/Pre-Raphaelite, as at St Michael & All Angels Waterford, or
Modernist, as with Le Corbusier’s churches at Ronchamp and La Tourette. With
such churches the desire to preserve is at its greatest, meaning, in the most
extreme circumstances, that no development or new commissions are permissible
because to do so would detract from the original designs. For many of the art sacré
Churches which I visited in France this also means that they are designated as
historic monuments. This guarantees their preservation while, possibly, denying
their development.
The need for
input/oversight from some kind of wider preservation body (e.g. the Diocesan
Advisory Committee in Anglican settings) is demonstrated by the issues raised
at St Peter’s Gorleston-on-Sea where for some time individuals were able to
make significant changes to Gill’s original design based primarily on personal
taste or preference.
The rejection of
Harry Clarke’s design for St Michael and All Angels, on the grounds that the
design was out of keeping with the Pre-Raphaelite windows already in the church,
provides an interesting example of the complexity of issues and pressures found
in such settings which has the potential for turning down work that could add
considerably to the setting. The debate which preceded the work by Renzo Piano
on the site of Ronchamp may well be another example of this syndrome; one which
had a positive resolution. One possible solution to these dilemmas, which has
been used at La Tourette, is that of commissioning temporary works that then
relate in some way to the original design of the church or its artworks.
(iv)
Team versus individual stars
Couturier
criticized the Ateliers d'Art Sacre as a 'world closed in on itself, where
reciprocal indulgence, or else mutual admiration, quickly becomes the ransom
paid to work as a team and maintain friendship.' Yet Couturier's scheme of work
at Assy suffers from the opposite problem, as work by individual masters
produced in isolation from each other, with work assigned on the basis of what
they could with integrity contribute, results in a decorative scheme with no
cohesiveness or focus.
Couturier, here,
fails to be sufficiently decisive as a curator. As William S. Rubin states,
'the subject was almost as often picked for the man as the man for the
subject.' It is the difference between a cohesive team of mediocre talents
versus a team of individual stars. It is anyone's guess as to which will win.
The ideal is usually part-way between the two and a mixed economy (of artists
with significant mainstream reputations receiving occasional commissions plus
artists with less significant mainstream reputations receiving commissions
which form a significant part of their practice) is what we find throughout
this period and into the present day.
Artists in the
latter group have often worked together on commissions or to obtain commissions
i.e. using broker/support organisations such as: ASP, Ateliers d'Arte Sacré,
Christian Artists, commission4mission, Guild of Catholic Artists and Craftsmen,
Guild of St Joseph & St Dominic, Societie de Saint Luc et St Maurice, and
Society of Catholic Artists.
Commissioning
several works from the same artists and positioning these at different
locations within a church indicates an awareness of the differing ways in which
visitors and worshippers use and respond to the space. Artworks integrated
within the life and architecture of a church are not viewed in the same way as
works within the white cube of a gallery space and this needs to be understood
and handled with sensitivity during the commissioning process. The number and
variety of commissions which feature within Chelmsford Cathedral, for example,
mean that even in a packed service when each worshipper will only see from
their specific place within the space a very small proportion of the artworks
within the building, they will, nevertheless, be able to view something of
significance and depth to enhance their experience of worship.
(v)
Current masters versus national, regional
or local artists
Couturier and Pie-Raymond Régamey argued that "each generation must appeal to the masters of living
art, and today those masters come first from secular art." Hussey wrote
that it had been the great enthusiasm of his life and work” to commission the
very best artist’s he could.
In Contemporary Art in British Churches
Paul Bayley sets up a dichotomy (as did Couturier and Régamey) between the
significant contemporary artists participating in the upsurge of commissioning
from the church (initiated by Hussey) and "self-styled 'Christian art'
that though sincere and well-intentioned" is "often formulaic or
decorative" and (tellingly) has "little or no standing within the art
world." Alan Green
gives a theological underpinning to this approach by pointing out that
"Jesus was not afraid to associate with, and be looked after by, those who
were not seen as good Jews ... Those who approached Jesus and seem to have got
the best responses from him were not the religious elite, but those with no
particular religious standing who nevertheless recognised something special in
him and presented themselves honestly."
However the mainstream art movements of the day will not necessarily share a
natural affinity with the Church (particularly when the Church is seen as a
part of what is to be subverted) and, if the focus of the Church is on engaging
key mainstream artists, then less attention may be paid to supporting emerging
artists with a Christian faith able to engage effectively with the mainstream
art world.
In addition, fashions and reputations in the art world (as elsewhere) change
considerably with time. In their own day and time Pablo Picasso and Matisse were
considered unassailable as the giants of twentieth century art while now, in
terms of continuing influence on contemporary artists, Marcel Duchamp is
generally considered to be the most influential twentieth century artist. Lurçat’s
tapestry provides the central focus for the Church at Assy, where those artists
commissioned were considered current masters, but his reputation has not been
sustained into the current day.
The reputations
of many of those who were commissioned by the Church in the twentieth century (e.g.
Bazaine, Denis, Albert Gleizes, Lurcat, Manessier, Sutherland, Piper, Rouault,
Severini) have declined following their deaths. The same is likely to be so for
those receiving contemporary commissions (i.e. Clarke, Cox, Emin, Le Brun,
Wisniewski). The pace with which modern art moved from one movement to next in
the twentieth century quickly and, often unfairly, condemned as passé what had
previously been avant garde.
The Church
cannot, and probably should not, seek to keep up with the fickle nature of
fashion and instead should value both artists with significant mainstream
reputations wishing to receive occasional commissions plus artists with less
significant mainstream reputations who receive commissions which form a more
significant part of their practice. In my view, therefore, debates about
artists with significant mainstream reputations versus those without and
between secular artists and artists who are Christians represent false division
and unnecessary debate. The reality is that both have happened simultaneously
in the story of modern church commissions and both have resulted in successes
and failures. As I shall attempt to outline in discussing the quality of
commissions, the key is to pay sustained and prayerful attention to each and
every artwork in order to discern what is good and of God in and through
it.
(vi)
Permanent vs temporary
Artists may,
consciously or unconsciously, value permanent commissions (with churches
providing one significant public context for such commissions) once they have
established their reputation with a view to sustaining that reputation into an
uncertain future. Permanent church commissions offer a means to escape the
vagaries of the art market. However as Christianity is not currently viewed as
trendy or fashionable in the West, it is seen as rarely benefitting an emerging
artist to secure a church commission.
Permanent
commissions raise issues of maintenance such the effect on its stained glass of
building subsidence at Canterbury Cathedral or the ongoing maintenance
programme for Kossowski’s ceramics at Aylesford Priory. Their cost can
therefore be more than the purchase price.
These
interventions enrich both the daily pattern of worship in the Cathedral and the
experience of the thousands who visit daily. Their temporary nature offers
something new even for those that are regular worshippers at St Pauls, while
the contrast that they provide with the existing art and permanent architecture
of the Cathedral means that they also fulfil the key requirement of
installation art; “a friction with its context that resists organisational
pressure and instead exerts its own terms of engagement.”
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