DOI article:
Sauterel, Valérie: The functioning and development of Kirsch & Fleckner's workshop in Fribourg during the first half of the twentieth century
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51154#0068
67
to the first step of realization [Fig. 14]. The second one,
which can stylistically be attributed to Fortuné Bovard
[Fig. 15], represents a second phase with modifications.
We can imagine that the customer was not entirely satis-
fied with Buchs’ design, and asked the workshop to make
some changes. It seems to have been easier to ask Bovard
to make these corrections because Buchs was in Berlin at
the time.19 The choice of involving two different artists in
the creation of one stained glass reveals a very particular
way of collaboration. As in Neyruz, the name of the art-
ist is not mentioned on the window, whereas the work-
shop signature is perfectly visible on another window of
the choir. Without the two cartoons, nobody could have
imagined that Fortuné Bovard had also been involved in
this work. This case also raises the question of how much
consideration and visibility, except for the case of Mehof-
fer, the artists appointed received during the first years of
the workshops activities.
TWO ARTISTS INSPIRED BY MEHOFFER:
JEAN-EDWARD DE CASTELLA
AND HENRI BROILLET
Another artist from Fribourg, though born in Australia,
began to work with Kirsch & Fleckner a few years after
Raymond Buchs. His name was Jean-Edward de Castella.
He trained in the Ecole professionnelle des arts et métiers
(School of Arts and Crafts) in Fribourg at the same time
as Buchs, with whom he became friends. In 1899, he be-
gan his studies in Munich at the Academy of Fine Arts
until in 1902 he moved to Paris.20 Back in Fribourg, he was
appointed by Kirsch & Fleckner to create, between 1903
and 1906, some sketches for the church of Saint-Michel
in Heitenried. In the choir, three windows and particu-
larly the axial window [Fig. 16] show that the young Cas-
tella dared to free himself from the conventional forms of
historicism, to steer himself towards modernity in which
his future style would blossom. Revealing a great force,
this axial window was inspired by Mehoffer s first stained-
glass windows in Fribourg Cathedral. This inspiration is
revealed by the choice of bright colors but also by the mul-
tiple juxtaposition of tints and shades. Several panels of
the stained-glass windows in the nave show characteris-
tics which prefigure very well the artists way to master
human figures. This will mark his artistic identity from
the beginning of the 1930s. In 1922, Castella created proj-
ects for stained-glass windows of a church of Plasselb. He
worked with the same guidelines used in Heitenried but
went further. One of the best examples is the stained glass
dedicated to St. Christopher [Fig. 17]. He makes a very
19 P. Rudaz, ‘Le vitrail: peinture sur verre et art nouveau’, pp. 19-20
(as in note 10).
20 E Arnaud, E Pajor, ‘Couleurs et lumières, de Melbourne à Fri-
bourg’, in L’église Saint-Pierre à Fribourg, Fribourg, 2008, pp. 54-
55-
13. Raymond Buchs, Fortuné Bovard and Kirsch & Fleckner, St. Jo-
seph and the Christ, 1906, Vuisternens-devant-Romont (Fribourg),
church of Notre-Dame-de-La-Nativité. Photo: Vitrocentre Romont,
H. Fischer
meticulous grisaille work in order to give volume to ele-
ments and an extraordinary monumentality to his struc-
ture. His only purpose is to draw the attention of the spec-
tator to the faces and glances of both protagonists. The
composition, which is without any useless artifact, rein-
forces this intimacy with the spectator.
In the early 1930s, Castella moved towards a crisp line
and a simplification in colored effects without betraying
the style of his beginnings. Two small stained-glass win-
dows in the little chapel of Richterwil Castle illustrate this
evolution [Fig. 18]. The bodies and the faces are drawn
with an important economy of line without losing their
power. The artist uses colors with the same economy to
enhance his statement. The red body of Christ and the
green faces of the angels serve the desired overall effect.
These compositional principles will be recurrent in his
to the first step of realization [Fig. 14]. The second one,
which can stylistically be attributed to Fortuné Bovard
[Fig. 15], represents a second phase with modifications.
We can imagine that the customer was not entirely satis-
fied with Buchs’ design, and asked the workshop to make
some changes. It seems to have been easier to ask Bovard
to make these corrections because Buchs was in Berlin at
the time.19 The choice of involving two different artists in
the creation of one stained glass reveals a very particular
way of collaboration. As in Neyruz, the name of the art-
ist is not mentioned on the window, whereas the work-
shop signature is perfectly visible on another window of
the choir. Without the two cartoons, nobody could have
imagined that Fortuné Bovard had also been involved in
this work. This case also raises the question of how much
consideration and visibility, except for the case of Mehof-
fer, the artists appointed received during the first years of
the workshops activities.
TWO ARTISTS INSPIRED BY MEHOFFER:
JEAN-EDWARD DE CASTELLA
AND HENRI BROILLET
Another artist from Fribourg, though born in Australia,
began to work with Kirsch & Fleckner a few years after
Raymond Buchs. His name was Jean-Edward de Castella.
He trained in the Ecole professionnelle des arts et métiers
(School of Arts and Crafts) in Fribourg at the same time
as Buchs, with whom he became friends. In 1899, he be-
gan his studies in Munich at the Academy of Fine Arts
until in 1902 he moved to Paris.20 Back in Fribourg, he was
appointed by Kirsch & Fleckner to create, between 1903
and 1906, some sketches for the church of Saint-Michel
in Heitenried. In the choir, three windows and particu-
larly the axial window [Fig. 16] show that the young Cas-
tella dared to free himself from the conventional forms of
historicism, to steer himself towards modernity in which
his future style would blossom. Revealing a great force,
this axial window was inspired by Mehoffer s first stained-
glass windows in Fribourg Cathedral. This inspiration is
revealed by the choice of bright colors but also by the mul-
tiple juxtaposition of tints and shades. Several panels of
the stained-glass windows in the nave show characteris-
tics which prefigure very well the artists way to master
human figures. This will mark his artistic identity from
the beginning of the 1930s. In 1922, Castella created proj-
ects for stained-glass windows of a church of Plasselb. He
worked with the same guidelines used in Heitenried but
went further. One of the best examples is the stained glass
dedicated to St. Christopher [Fig. 17]. He makes a very
19 P. Rudaz, ‘Le vitrail: peinture sur verre et art nouveau’, pp. 19-20
(as in note 10).
20 E Arnaud, E Pajor, ‘Couleurs et lumières, de Melbourne à Fri-
bourg’, in L’église Saint-Pierre à Fribourg, Fribourg, 2008, pp. 54-
55-
13. Raymond Buchs, Fortuné Bovard and Kirsch & Fleckner, St. Jo-
seph and the Christ, 1906, Vuisternens-devant-Romont (Fribourg),
church of Notre-Dame-de-La-Nativité. Photo: Vitrocentre Romont,
H. Fischer
meticulous grisaille work in order to give volume to ele-
ments and an extraordinary monumentality to his struc-
ture. His only purpose is to draw the attention of the spec-
tator to the faces and glances of both protagonists. The
composition, which is without any useless artifact, rein-
forces this intimacy with the spectator.
In the early 1930s, Castella moved towards a crisp line
and a simplification in colored effects without betraying
the style of his beginnings. Two small stained-glass win-
dows in the little chapel of Richterwil Castle illustrate this
evolution [Fig. 18]. The bodies and the faces are drawn
with an important economy of line without losing their
power. The artist uses colors with the same economy to
enhance his statement. The red body of Christ and the
green faces of the angels serve the desired overall effect.
These compositional principles will be recurrent in his