This is a list of works in stained glass designed by the English artist John Piper between 1954 and 1985, the majority realised in partnership with glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens.
Already an established artist working primarily in the medium of painting and printmaking, Piper only began designing for stained glass in the 1950s when he was aged over 50 years old. It would become a major, though far from exclusive, avenue of artistic expression during the second half of Piper's career.
From the outset, Piper forged a productive professional relationship with the glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens, who realised the large majority of Piper's completed designs for glass. Despite Piper being more than 20 years' older than Reyntiens, and by far the more established artist, in general this was a reciprocal and collaborative partnership. Though always structured by PiperâÂÂs origination of an overall design, they resisted a hierarchical model of artist above craftsman in favour of interdependent creative exchange. This allowed Reyntiens significant interpretative agency, which was particualrly true for large-scale and experimental commissions, such as the Crown of Glass for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.
Together, Piper and Reyntiens completed over 60 individual stained glass commissions over a period of more than 30 years, their reputation forged early, particularly after the contemporary critical praise afforded to the baptistry window at Coventry Cathedral. Commissions were primarily - though not exclusively - intended for religious settings, benefiting from widespread reconstruction efforts following the Second World War. Piper designed in both figurative and abstract styles interchangeably throughout his career according to the individual commission and the brief from the client. Nevertheless, his works in stained glass - and his artistic practice more generally - are united by their modern painterly style.
Piper set out his âÂÂphilosophyâ on the medium in his 1968 essay Stained Glass: Art or Anti-Art?, reflecting on the uneasy position that stained glass occupies between fine art and architectural craft. In it he questioned whether modern trends risked stripping the medium of its expressive depth. He critiqued both nostalgic imitation of historical styles and overly abstract experimentation, arguing that either could disconnect stained glass from its essential dialogue with light, space, and setting. Ultimately, Piper advocated for a balanced, context-sensitive approach in which contemporary design is rooted in the mediumâÂÂs unique and timeless qualities while still embracing innovation.
In the same essay Piper also emphasised the importance of maintaining a clear separation between the artist-designer and the craftsman-manufacturer, seeing this distinction as vital to preserving both creative integrity and technical excellence in modern stained glass practice. This conception of creative division can certainly be read as an endorsement of the particular nature of PiperâÂÂs own collaborative partnership with Reyntiens. It has also been read as a strategically performative piece of reputational positioning in relation to his contemporaries working in the medium, most of whom practiced as both designer and maker, such as John Hayward, Keith New and Harry Stammers.
The following list is taken primarily from June Osborne's 1997 book John Piper and Stained Glass, considered the definitive text on the subject.All of the locations listed below are in England except where otherwise stated. Piper completed only two stained glass commissions for settings outside the United Kingdom (in the United States and New Zealand).