"Glasswork, an age-old craft, initially mastered by craftsmen, has developed into art in the 20th century. The beginning of the century is marked by a permanent collaboration between craft and industry grace, especially thanks to French glassworkers. At the turn of the 1960’s,, this artistic medium became the favorite material for some artists, who were real artistic sculptors both in then Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) and in the United States. Today artists from around the world use this material which resembles nothing else. These conjurors who transform silica into a work of art, further the fashion of the ” Studio Glass Movement “, which was born forty years ago from the creativity and willpower of Harvey Littleton, Erwin Eisch, Marvin Lipofsky,…
As much from the design as the technical aspects, the elaboration of sculptures by fusion, modeling or glass-blowing, has become an incredibly wealthy source of creation. Dali, Picasso, Cesar, Ernst, Dmitrienko, or more recently Rauschenberg have successfully experimed with glass. The French poet, art critic and diplomat Paul Claudel wrote ” I have always liked glass so much; it is is a kind of solidified, tangible, leaking away through our fingers, durably fragile, with a spiritual content”.
Sculptural artists and alchemists, have created works of miscellaneous sizes, structures and colors. Insufficiently known in Europe, “glass sculptures” have not yet gained full recognition. However glass now is exhibited in numerous museums and foreign foundations today. American, European and Asian have been developing ” Studio Glass ” today.The artists grouped under this category and the galleries which defend them have their big masses twice a year, in June in New York and in October in Chicago during the SOFA.
In France, the CIRVA (International Centre for Glass Plastic Arts) welcomes the plastic artists who are wishing to introduce the glass material into their creative method and Sars Poterie’s museum is the only one to defend this art. Fewer than ten galleries are currently presenting these artists on our territory, for lack of finding a sufficient audience, often due to the lack of training or of information.
The Czech school has undisputably made a major contribution to the development of “Studio Glass ” for 40 years with artists such as F. Vizner, V. Cigler, R. Roubichek and the former S. Libensky. Their works are exhibited in the most important museums in Asia and the United States. The Czech school remains one of the most active and renowned in the world of the Studio Glass, and Libensky’s students pursue and develop their master’s research, making it a perennial venture.
In the US, glass artists are numerous and exclusive galleries are widespread. In the global Studio Glass market, the United States and Japan are dominant because of their dynamism and the permanent support of their institutions. A new museum, opened its doors in July, 2002, in Tacoma Washington state, offering a review of Libensky’s works. In Nakama a foundation is totally dedicated to the Studio Glass. In Europe one also distinguishes artists of good name and naturally some renowned international glassworkers in France, as A. and M. Begou, B. Dejongh, A. Leperlier, M. Négréanu. Y. Zorichak, C. Zuber…
Americans have the foresight and financial ability to establish large glass collections by buying the best works of art by European, Japanese, American and Australian artists. As was the case with European painters, many works in these public and private collections are of European origin, leaving our European cultural devoid of masterworks of their own citizns and neighboring citizens.
The art market has been global for a long time but at the dawn of a revolution in design, technology and the achievement of new works, it’s high time European museums and fondations of contemporary art invested massively in an art which is still “young” and whose roots and influence have been primarily in this continent. The necessary deemed for the building up of an exceptional collection is even lower than 900 000 Euros, a derisory sum regarding current deals in this field.
The aesthetic perspectives, of this tridimentionnel support, are unlimited. The light is reflected or absorbed in the depths of the glass, hits our retina at high speed, introducing a new dimension. This fourth dimension is reached thanks to the speed of the light, thus allowing the glass conjurors to achieve their dreams, and fulfill their unconscious desires. No other material can reproduce the complex optical effects of the glass, thereby pushing away the boundaries of creation.
It is time for the museum curators, managers, selection committees of contemporary art exhibits and collectors to discover, embrace and present to the public what belongs to contemporary Art along with painting, sculpture, photography, films… namely Studio Glass."
Schmoll, L. "The Studio Glass or art of the fourth dimension." Biennale du Verre website. accessed July 30, 2009. http://www.biennaleduverre.org/
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