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Patrick Reyntiens

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Patrick Reyntiens
OBE
Born
Nicholas Patrick Reyntiens

(1925-12-11)11 December 1925
Knightsbridge, London, England
Died25 October 2021(2021-10-25) (aged 95)
Taunton, Somerset, England
EducationAmpleforth College
Alma materRegent Street Polytechnic, Edinburgh College of Art
SpouseAnne Bruce (died 2006)
Children4
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1943–47
UnitScots Guards

Nicholas Patrick Reyntiens OBE (/ˈreɪntiənz/;[1][2] 11 December 1925 – 25 October 2021) was a British stained-glass artist, described as "the leading practitioner of stained glass in this country."[3][4]

Personal life

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Reyntiens was born in December 1925 at 68 Cadogan Square, Knightsbridge, London SW1, of Belgian extraction.[3] He was sent to school at the Benedictine Ampleforth College in Yorkshire and was a practising Roman Catholic.[3] He left school in 1943[5] and joined the Scots Guards, with whom he served from 1943 to 1947.[3] His artistic training was first at Regent Street Polytechnic (now the University of Westminster) and then at Edinburgh College of Art.[3]

At Edinburgh he met Anne Bruce (1927–2006), a painter whom he later married.[3] They had two sons and two daughters, Edith, Dominick, Lucy, and John.[6][7] In the 1950s, Reyntiens and Bruce bought Burleighfield House,[5] a run-down country house near Loudwater, Buckinghamshire.[8] The couple moved to Somerset in 1982.[9]

Reyntiens died on 25 October 2021, at the age of 95.[10]

Career

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East window of St Michael and All Angels Church, Marden, representing Christ in Majesty (1962)

Stained glass

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Reyntiens began his career as assistant to the stained glass artist Jozef Edward Nuttgens (1892–1982), who lived and worked at Pigotts Hill, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.[3]

Reyntiens went on to collaborate with John Piper (1903–92), with whom he worked for 35 years.[8] Their notable works together include the Baptistery window of the new Coventry Cathedral (1957–61) and the windows of the lantern tower of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (1963–67).[3] They also worked together on commissions for Church of England parish churches including at Bledlow Ridge (1968), Pishill (1969), Nettlebed (1970), Sandford St Martin (1974), Turville (1975), Wolvercote (1976), Fawley, Buckinghamshire (1976).[11], and Eton College Chapel.[12]

West window of Southwell Minster (1996)

Reyntiens' solo works include windows for St Mary's church, Hound (1958–59),[3] Christ Church, Flackwell Heath (1961),[13] St Michael and All Angels Church, Marden (1962),[14] the Church of the Good Shepherd, Woodthorpe, Nottinghamshire (circa 1962–64),[15] All Saints' parish church, Hinton Ampner (1970),[16] the Great Hall of Christ Church, Oxford (1985),[17] Southwell Minster (1996),[18], St Andrews Church, Scole and Washington National Cathedral in the USA.[8] Some of his work is now permanently exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.[8]

His son John Reyntiens is also a notable stained glass artist. John has "translated" many of his father's designs, including for works at Much Hadham (1995), Anstey, Hertfordshire (2000), St Alban's church, Romford (2002 and 2004), the Church of St Mary, Stoke St Mary (2003), the Frances Bardsley School, Romford (2006), and St George's Roman Catholic Church, Taunton (2009).[19] Their largest collaboration was for the church of Ampleforth Abbey: 27 windows in 2003, followed by two in 2004 and six in 2006–07.[19][20] In 2011, John made a documentary film about his father's life and work, From Coventry to Cochem, the Art of Patrick Reyntiens.[19]

Art education

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From 1963 until 1976, Reyntiens and Bruce, a painter, operated a small art education centre at their Buckinghamshire home, Burleighfield House,[21] which later became the Reyntiens Trust.[5]

For a decade, Reyntiens was Head of Fine Art at Central School of Art and Design. He retired from the post in order to return to his own stained glass work.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Window For Cathedral (1964)". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  2. ^ "John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens "Crown of Glass" a Shell Guide's archive film". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lambirth 2013
  4. ^ "Reyntiens, Nicholas Patrick, (born 11 Dec. 1925), Head of Fine Art, Central School of Art and Design, London, 1976–86". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U32357. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4.
  5. ^ a b c "Patrick Reyntiens OBE". Ampleforth Abbey. Archived from the original on 16 December 2004. Retrieved 28 July 2018. (archived)
  6. ^ "REYNTIENS - Deaths Announcements". announcements.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Anne Bruce". The Independent. 7 December 2006. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Swengley 2016
  9. ^ "History". Patrick Reyntiens Stained Glass Panels. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Patrick Reyntiens, genius of 20th-century stained glass who with John Piper created jewel-like windows for Liverpool and Coventry cathedrals – obituary". The Telegraph. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021. (subscription required)
  11. ^ Anonymous 2012, pp. 2–9.
  12. ^ "The Chapel". Eton College. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  13. ^ "History". Christ Church Flackwell Heath. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  14. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Michael and All Angels (Grade I) (1054804)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Woodthorpe – The Good Shepherd". Taking Stock. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  16. ^ Hillas, David (30 December 2009). "Geograph:: Inside All Saints Church, Hinton Ampner". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  17. ^ "The Hall". Christ Church, Oxford. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  18. ^ "Southwell Minster". Eastern Cathedrals. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  19. ^ a b c "CV". John Reyntiens. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  20. ^ Historic England. "The Abbey Church (Grade I) (1315767)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  21. ^ a b "Introduction". Patrick Reyntiens Stained Glass Panels. Retrieved 28 July 2018.

Sources

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