STAINED GLASS EXHIBITION
By Robert l’Heureux
At Citadines Centre d’Art
From 7 – 21 January
Open from 14.30-1800 daily except Sunday
Vernissage on the 7th from 15.00 to 19.00
One cannot miss the stained glass exhibition by Robert l’Heureux opening on the 7th
of January in Citadines, and for one reason only …it is simply magnificent!
Happy is the one who feels blessed in his temple!
And this is actually the story of Robert l’Heureux (Heureux means happy in French!)
who is now living his dream.
Originally from Montreal, where he worked in the restaurant business, Robert sold
his restaurant to two Indians and headed to Auroville.
Robert has always worked in stained glass. Glass is centrally important to him; it is
part, if you like, of his very psyche. He understands it on a level that is effectively
spiritual – and the result is a breathtaking blend of spirit and matter.
However, his previous work involved decorating and producing big and small
lamps. His Aurovilian work has taken a completely different direction.
In stained glass work, the play of light and the design means the artwork is never
static. It is animated by changing light with patterns wandering across floors and
walls, inviting you to wander with them. Robert has always been fascinated by air,
ether or anything flying, from subtle bodies to the cosmos and its galaxies, planets,
nebula and other celestial bodies.
In the European Middle Ages, stained glass windows were used to allow the light of
God into the church. In the early twentieth century, Louis Comfort Tiffany
introduced his famous lamps into regular housing. Robert’s compositions vary from
what could look like a Miro painting, a mandala, a resplendent triptych of modern
pattern, a Zen tree on a rock in the sea, a sailing boat and more. They vary from
abstract to figurative, geometric or sinuous. Perhaps the most striking one is made
of black and white glass, a gigantic modern triptych representing a mermaid, a
regatta and an abyss. The different textures, the nuances of different colours, the
changing patterns and shapes, all chosen meticulously by the artist, produce a flow,
which, coming out such a hard material, makes it even more fascinating.
All feels like grace, and you will even be more appreciative of this unique present
offered to you, knowing that these precious sheets of glass had to be imported from
Shangai, China.
Robert l’Heureux never felt so happy as he is really doing now fully his spiritual
work in his temple. And through his shining stained glass, he is also doing what one
is supposed to do.…bringing light to this world.
This article was written by Chana Corinne Devor for Auroville Art Service. Presently
exploring Auroville, she is an art critic and writes for international travel and spiritual
magazines.
