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Big Glass, Bold Glass

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It’s a name that often stands alone, bereft of more because it is complete in its singularity.

Chihuly.

From Venice to Jerusalem, the exhibitions of Seattle artist Dale Chihuly have attracted fans and critics alike.

This summer, Chihuly’s large-scale glass sculptures will be on display throughout the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville, including the Winter Garden of the Biltmore House as well as the Italian Garden and Walled Garden.

“An encounter with Dale Chihuly’s works is always a spectacular reminder that glass is not just something to see through or drink out of,” wrote Smithsonian Magazine regarding a 2007 Chihuly exhibition at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida.

However, a Google search finds as many questions about Chihuly’s massive, colorful glass works as there appear answers.

As the Huffington Post wrote more than five years ago: “Whether or not Chihuly can be considered an artist begs the question of what art is. Is it necessarily something other than a product, and if so, how can the divide between the two be defined?”

The New York Times couldn’t help but note: “There’s no question Mr. Chihuly has become an institution and created a bridge between decorative and fine arts that some art scholars have compared to Louis Comfort Tiffany,” the New York stained glass designer credited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as “one of America’s most acclaimed artists.”

The installation at Biltmore “offers a unique opportunity to experience the artist’s work set within gardens which were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture,” the Chihuly company said in an announcement regarding the installation.

Chihuly at Biltmore runs through October 7, featuring a variety of the 76-year-old artist’s monumental glass sculptures. “For the first time Biltmore will host an evening experience in the gardens that will offer views of the sculptures after dark,” said Travis Tatham, director of entertainment and event programming at Biltmore.

“Acclaimed for his iconic glass sculptures, Chihuly is also known for ambitious and immersive site-specific public installations and exhibitions in museums and gardens around the world,” Tatham said.

‘I’ve never met a color I didn’t like’

Born in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Chihuly has said he draws inspiration from the Pacific Northwest region. Considered a leader of the studio glass movement, Chihuly established the glass program at the Rhode Island School of Design and co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. Chihuly works from his studio in Seattle, and his glass is included in more than 200 museum collections around the world.

As a young man, Chihuly was initially drawn to interior design, “but it wasn’t until I had to take a weaving class at the University of Washington in the early 1960s that I made my first artistic use” of glass. “I started weaving small pieces of glass into tapestries. One night a few years later, I melted some glass in a little oven and blew a bubble. I had a poster on the wall of a glassblower with his cheeks puffed up so I gave it a try. As soon as I blew that bubble I decided I wanted to be a glassblower,” Chihuly has said.

“There are only a few translucent materials light can go through and glass is one of those. Imagine entering Chartres Cathedral and looking up at the Rose Window, where one can see a one-inch square of ruby red glass from 300 feet away. I have always been attracted to the way light passes through glass,” he said.

Chihuly’s works represent the wide spectrum of the rainbow, though many pieces are imbued with dominant oranges, purples, blues and reds. “I like to say I’ve never met a color I didn’t like,” he said.

Chihuly at Biltmore

‘He Taught Us to Think Big’

Dale Chihuly says Harvey Littleton, the founder of the studio glass movement who made his home in Western North Carolina for 36 years, played a tremendous role in his decision to work with glass.

In 1963, Littleton created a program for glass at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where Chihuly later studied. “His glass program at Madison—the first of its kind—moved other institutions to start their own glass departments and inspired me to teach other artists through the glass program at Rhode Island School of Design, and later, by founding Pilchuck Glass School in Washington state,” Chihuly told SML.

“Harvey Littleton had a major influence on my career and on the careers of many other artists who chose glass as their medium,” Chihuly said.

Littleton authored “Glassblowing: A Search for Form,” which is considered a manifesto of the glass movement. In 1977, Littleton moved his home and studio to Mitchell County, North Carolina, where he had helped start a glass program at Penland School of Crafts, a national epicenter for contemporary and traditional craft.

Littleton died in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, in 2013.

In a 1998 article in the magazine GLASS Quarterly, Chihuly reflected on Littleton’s impact on him and others who were drawn to sculpting with glass. “Without a doubt, Harvey Littleton was the force behind the studio glass movement; without him my career wouldn’t exist,” Chihuly said.

“Harvey was a big thinker—if he wanted a special piece of equipment, he would spend the money; he taught us to think big instead of thinking small. Some of that rubbed off on me. And he encouraged us to be unique—Harvey liked that,” Chihuly wrote.

“Teaching artists has remained a constant throughout my career, and I always hope that my work inspires other students of glass, the same way Harvey inspired me,” Chihuly told SML.

Chihuly said the display of his works at Biltmore is an opportunity to share some of that inspiration. “The Biltmore is a stunning setting and I’m excited to exhibit my work there … I hope that visitors, including other artists, will be overwhelmed with beauty throughout the experience.”

—Jonathan Austin

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