Egon Sendler

Father Egon Sendler (born 1923) is a Roman Catholic priest of the Jesuit order and one of the world's foremost experts on the painting of Eastern Orthodox icons. [ [http://www.atelier-st-andre.net Atelier Saint-André biography] ] He is also an author, teacher, theologian, and artist. Father Sendler is unusual in that he has achieved considerable respect from many Orthodox experts on icons, despite being a Catholic. [ [http://www.russomania.com/article.php3?id_article=136 L’atelier d’iconographie] ]

Biography

Fr. Sendler was born in Silesia in 1923, but has lived in France for more than fifty years. [ [http://creativeicon.wordpress.com Creative Icon biography] ] He was educated in Munich, Rome and Paris, where he studied Byzantine art history. He is fluent in French, Russian, German, and Polish.

In 1970, he established the icons section of the "Centre d'Études Russes Saint-Georges", located in Meudon, just outside of Paris. [ [http://www.russie.net/france/st-georges.htm Centre d'Études Russes Saint-Georges] ] In 2002, this centre was renamed "Atelier Saint-Georges" and relocated to Versailles. [ [http://www.iconofile.com Iconofile Resource Guide] ] It provides workshops for both beginner and advanced icon painters. For more than thirty years, he has also taught icon workshops in countries throughout the world, including Italy, Argentina, the United States, and Réunion. To supplement this instruction, he frequently leads his students on tours/pilgrimages to Russia, Greece and Cyprus. [ [http://creativeicon.wordpress.com Creative Icon ibid.] ]

Fr. Sendler is a prolific icon painter, painting in both the Russian and Byzantine traditions; his icons and frescoes are displayed in France, Italy, Lebanon and the United States. [ [http://www.nicerendezvous.com/FR/EGON-SENDLER-A-NICE--L-ICONE,-IMAGE-DE-L-INVISIBLE-n-1453.html Presentation by Fr. Sendler at Nice Rendezvous] ] In recent years, an icon workshop named "Atelier Saint-André" has been established in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is a community of independent painters who follow the teachings of Fr. Sendler and work in cooperation with the "Atelier Saint-Georges". Their murals, frescoes, and icons "strictly adhere to the canonical and aesthetic rules of traditional iconography which have developed through the past two thousand years". [ [http://www.atelier-st-andre.net Atelier Saint-André ibid.] ]

Fr. Sendler has also written three books on icons: "L'icône: Image de l'Invisible" (1981), "Les icônes byzantines de la Mère de Dieu" (1992), and "Les mystères du Christ: Icônes de la liturgie" (2001). [ [http://creativeicon.wordpress.com Creative Icon ibid.] ] All of these books are published by Desclée de Brouwer. The first of these books has been translated from French into many languages; its title in English is "The Icon: Image of the Invisible". It is a comprehensive study of the theology and history of the icon, as well as its aesthetics and techniques. It includes technical details and preparations, from pigment colours to selection of wood. [ [http://heavenlyart.net Book references from Heavenly Art] ] Regarding the differences between Western and Eastern religious art, Fr. Sendler states,

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