The Atelier Simon-Marq is one of the oldest continuously operating stained-glass workshops in France, its origins tracing back to around 1640, when Pierre Simon established his studio in Reims. Over more than three and a half centuries, the firm has remained in the hands of the same family, making it one of the ten oldest family businesses in France and a cornerstone of the French glassmaking tradition.

The atelier’s reputation was consolidated in the nineteenth century under Jacques Simon (1890–1974), whose restoration work after World War I helped revive many of the shattered windows of Reims Cathedral. His daughter Brigitte Simon (1926–2009), trained both as a painter and glass designer, married Charles Marq (1923–2006), a master glassmaker and artist in his own right. Together they guided the studio through a period of remarkable artistic expansion in the mid-twentieth century.

During their tenure, Atelier Simon-Marq collaborated with major modern artists — including Marc Chagall, Roger Bissière, and Joan Miró — realising many of their designs in glass for cathedrals and churches throughout France and abroad. Their technical mastery in colour modulation and their sensitivity to light and architectural setting made the studio a central figure in the post-war renaissance of stained glass.

Today, the workshop is directed by Benoît Marq, the twelfth generation of the family to carry on the tradition. Under his leadership, Atelier Simon-Marq continues to unite the inherited craft of glassmaking with contemporary innovation, producing and restoring stained glass for both sacred and secular buildings. Its longevity and creative adaptability reflect the enduring vitality of French glass art — a living continuity of light and craftsmanship stretching unbroken from the seventeenth century to the present day.