Cobalt and Gold Leaf Venetian

Dale Chihuly was one of the first American artists to work with Murano glassblowers and thereby gain access to the secrets of Venetian glassblowing. He aims to capture the spirit of the Italian designs and take them further, often shocking the viewer with his exaggerated forms and exuberant decoration. Chihuly has described the breakthrough in his work, when “handles changed to knots, prunts became claws, colors went from subtle to bright and forms shaped by gravity and fire were no longer symmetrical.”

“I started the series with the simple idea of replicating these strange [Venetian] vases. I hoped that it would go somewhere else, someplace bizarre.” Dale Chihuly