A centuries-old studio

The story of the Atelier Simon-Marq began in 1640 with a small enamelled panel made as a “guild masterpiece”—an object made to showcase the skills of a master craftsman—by Pierre Simon, who was the first in a long line of master stained-glass makers.

This long family tradition was able to continue thanks to work required on the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims, which dates from the thirteenth century.

Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq

When this jewel of Gothic architecture was bombed by the Germans in 1914, fire ripped through the building and the gargoyles began spewing molten lead. The master stained-glass maker Jacques Simon (1890-1974) saved the cathedral’s stained glass windows by removing them as a matter of urgency in 1917. He would later restore them, referring to the numerous rubbings taken by his grandfather Jean-Pierre Simon (1813-1874) in 1850 and 1872.

Atelier Simon-Marq, photographie : © Section Photographique des Armées de la guerre 14-18 Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq

In parallel with the restoration work, Jacques Simon devoted his time to creating new stained glass windows. These were not only for religious buildings (the Vitrail du Champagne in Reims Cathedral and a litany of the Virgin on the small rose window above the central doorway), but also for new non-religious buildings in collaboration with local architects. The most spectacular of them all is probably the stained-glass chandelier that adorns the Carnegie Library in Reims.

Jacques Simon’s daughter Brigitte (1926-2009), who was herself a painter and master glassmaker, married the glassmaker, painter and engraver Charles Marq (1923-2006) in 1949. The couple took over the management of the studio, now called Simon-Marq. They added their personal artistic flair to their talent for restoring old stained-glass windows, and also created stained-glass windows in their own name, not only in Reims but also in Rethel in the Ardennes and the Cathédrale Saint-Jean in Lyon. In 1957, Charles Marq and Brigitte Simon introduced major contemporary painters to the civil and religious history of stained glass, providing them with both their artistic sensitivity and their technical expertise. How thrilling it was for artists such as Jacques Villon et Roger Bissière, Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, Serge Poliakoff, Joseph Sima, Raoul Ubac and Maria-Helena Vieira da Silva to see their paintings so accurately transposed into luminous stained glass! Chagall had almost all his stained glass made by the Atelier Simon-Marq: for the choir of Notre-Dame de Reims, the Synagogue of the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and the lobby of the UN building in New York.

Brigitte and Charles Marq’s son Benoît, who joined the Atelier Simon-Marq in 1973, took over as CEO in 1981. His wife Stéphanie joined him in 1986, and he continued the family tradition with the restoration of important stained glass windows including the North Rose Window of Reims Cathedral (13th century), the windows of the Basilica of Saint Remi in Reims (12th century) and those made by Valentin Bousch in Metz Cathedral (15th century). In parallel, like his forefathers, he designed and made stained glass windows, for example with Maria-Helena Vieira da Silva, David Tremlett and François Rouan.

In 2019 the company was taken over by local business magnates Philippe Varin and Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, with Marine Rondeau as CEO. Thus began a new chapter in the rich history of the Atelier Simon-Marq, the seventh oldest company in France and the oldest in Reims.

A centuries-old studio

The story of the Atelier Simon-Marq began in 1640 with a small enamelled panel made as a “guild masterpiece”—an object made to showcase the skills of a master craftsman—by Pierre Simon, who was the first in a long line of master stained-glass makers.

This long family tradition was able to continue thanks to work required on the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims, which dates from the thirteenth century.

Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq

When this jewel of Gothic architecture was bombed by the Germans in 1914, fire ripped through the building and the gargoyles began spewing molten lead. The master stained-glass maker Jacques Simon (1890-1974) saved the cathedral’s stained glass windows by removing them as a matter of urgency in 1917. He would later restore them, referring to the numerous rubbings taken by his grandfather Jean-Pierre Simon (1813-1874) in 1850 and 1872.

Atelier Simon-Marq, photographie : © Section Photographique des Armées de la guerre 14-18 Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq Atelier Simon-Marq

In parallel with the restoration work, Jacques Simon devoted his time to creating new stained glass windows. These were not only for religious buildings (the Vitrail du Champagne in Reims Cathedral and a litany of the Virgin on the small rose window above the central doorway), but also for new non-religious buildings in collaboration with local architects. The most spectacular of them all is probably the stained-glass chandelier that adorns the Carnegie Library in Reims.

Jacques Simon’s daughter Brigitte (1926-2009), who was herself a painter and master glassmaker, married the glassmaker, painter and engraver Charles Marq (1923-2006) in 1949. The couple took over the management of the studio, now called Simon-Marq. They added their personal artistic flair to their talent for restoring old stained-glass windows, and also created stained-glass windows in their own name, not only in Reims but also in Rethel in the Ardennes and the Cathédrale Saint-Jean in Lyon. In 1957, Charles Marq and Brigitte Simon introduced major contemporary painters to the civil and religious history of stained glass, providing them with both their artistic sensitivity and their technical expertise. How thrilling it was for artists such as Jacques Villon et Roger Bissière, Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, Serge Poliakoff, Joseph Sima, Raoul Ubac and Maria-Helena Vieira da Silva to see their paintings so accurately transposed into luminous stained glass! Chagall had almost all his stained glass made by the Atelier Simon-Marq: for the choir of Notre-Dame de Reims, the Synagogue of the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and the lobby of the UN building in New York.

Brigitte and Charles Marq’s son Benoît, who joined the Atelier Simon-Marq in 1973, took over as CEO in 1981. His wife Stéphanie joined him in 1986, and he continued the family tradition with the restoration of important stained glass windows including the North Rose Window of Reims Cathedral (13th century), the windows of the Basilica of Saint Remi in Reims (12th century) and those made by Valentin Bousch in Metz Cathedral (15th century). In parallel, like his forefathers, he designed and made stained glass windows, for example with Maria-Helena Vieira da Silva, David Tremlett and François Rouan.

In 2019 the company was taken over by local business magnates Philippe Varin and Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, with Marine Rondeau as CEO. Thus began a new chapter in the rich history of the Atelier Simon-Marq, the seventh oldest company in France and the oldest in Reims.