During the wildly popular Chihuly exhibition, which ended in February, his studio editions in
Brandywine Macchia, 2013
the VMFA shop were quite a hit. We’re pleased to announce that new 2013 editions, fresh out of Chihuly’s workshop, are now available.
It was the spirit of experimentation that led Dale Chihuly to work with all 300 colors available in his hotshop to create the Macchia series. For this series, he created a unique process that allowed him to contrast the interior and exterior colors without blending them together—a predominant characteristic of this vibrant series. Commenting on the development of this series, Chihuly said that “when we unloaded the ovens in the morning, there was a rush of seeing something I had never seen before.”
The 2013 Chihuly Workshop Studio Edition is eleven inches across and signed by the artist. The edition is shipped with a Plexiglas case for display; a copy of Chihuly alla Macchia, a fifty-two-page publication with full-color photographs of Chihuly’s Macchia glass and drawings, completes the ensemble.
Chartreuse Persian Pair, 2013
“The name Persians evokes the exoticism of the Middle East with its seas of sand, the basic material of glass. The Persians emerge as mysterious, ancient and marvelous,” notes art historian Henry Adams. The exoticism in the Persian series comes partly from Dale Chihuly’s work at the Venini glass workshop outside Venice. It was there that he became inspired by the city’s Byzantine and Near Eastern influences, which can be seen in the dramatic rhythm that pulses through the jewel-toned colors of this compelling series.
This signed, handblown Studio Edition measures eleven inches across and is shipped with a Plexiglas display case as well as the hardcover Chihuly Workshop publication Chihuly Persians. Fifty-eight beautifully photographed images capture the imaginative forms, and an essay by museum curator Tina Oldknow gives historical context to the artist’s Persian series.
Cinnabar Basket, 2013
Dale Chihuly first established his unique approach to glassblowing while working on one of his
earliest series: Baskets. This technique set the tone for the now-familiar asymmetrical Baskets, which are characterized by their delicate, organic shapes and long, trailing wraps. Art historian Linda Norden writes that the Baskets “manifest another kind of Chihuly magic, one that does indeed rely on his exploitation of the material properties of glass. These are forms that truly make us wonder: whether the glass gathers the light or the light gathers as forms.”
This handblown Studio Edition measures approximately six inches in height and is signed by Chihuly. Presented in a Plexiglas display case, the ensemble is accompanied by a Chihuly Workshop publication, Chihuly Baskets. This 164-page monograph further explores the fascinating series with two essays and seventy-three beautiful photographs.
“The Seaforms call forth associations with water, marine life and movement without depicting them, and that’s why they so persuasively affect us as art,” writes art critic Joan Seeman Robinson. Dale Chihuly grew up surrounded by the waters of Puget Sound, so it is not surprising that his work has been influenced by the sea. The artist himself has noted that “as soon as I saw the Baskets begin to look like shells and things from the sea, I pushed the idea of the transparency of the glass and the sea and the water . . . and it all fit together in the forms.”
Saffron Seaform Pair, 2013
The 2013 Chihuly Workshop Studio Edition, signed by the artist, measures approximately nine inches across and is accompanied by a Plexiglas vitrine with black base for display. The ensemble is complemented by a 110-page clothbound book, Chihuly Seaforms, which includes forty-four full-color reproductions of this series and insightful essays by art critic Joan Seeman Robinson and author and oceanographer Sylvia Earle.
Experience the Chihuly magic by seeing these works in the VMFA shop!