CovSoc member and Chair of the Friends of Coventry Cathedral, Martin Willims, tells us about this remarkable sculpture re-discovered in the Cathedral. The following article is from the January Chair’s newsletter with kind permission of the Friends.
A sculpture by the French artist, Jephan de Villiers, has been discovered by the Cathedral Archivist, Dianne Morris, in a Cathedral storeroom. Dianne came across the sculpture as she was tidying the storeroom to make additional space to house the Cathedral Archives.
The sculptor was a pupil of the famous architect Le Corbusier, and today his work can be found in art galleries across Europe. Holder of numerous prizes including that of the Institut de France, his work is installed at a number of spiritual sites across the world.
In 1968 Jephan de Villiers (then aged 26 years) was the first international sculptor to exhibit his work at the Cathedral. At that time I was working as a student verger at the Cathedral and I recall that he made himself available in the Chapter House to discuss his work throughout the exhibition there. During the quieter moments I talked to the sculptor about Coventry and the Cathedral.
The writer and art critic Max Wykes Joyce, the London correspondent of the New York Herald Tribune, wrote: “It is a rare thing to meet a sculptor of the first order, of complete integrity and authenticity… I salute the resurrected cathedral and the master sculptor who exhibits his work there.”
When the exhibition finished, the artist presented Provost Williams with the plaster sculpture, “The Tree Of Life”, as is shown in the newspaper photo above. De Villiers arranged the exhibition because he had found the experience of his first visit to Coventry Cathedral particularly moving.
As he presented his gift to Provost Williams he said, “The Cathedral affected the whole future of my work, and it is for this reason that I cannot go on without leaving something of myself here.”
For many years the Cathedral staff walked past the sculpture daily when it was on display in a stairway recess at Pelham Lee House (7 Priory Row), but it has not been seen at all in recent years. The work is unusual in that within it is encapsulated an order of service from a “do-it-yourself” act of worship that took place in April 1968. Edric Connor, the West Indian singer and actor, took a leading part in that worship, which made a deep impression on the sculptor.