Birthday Cheers to a Glass Master!

The work of Dale Chihuly, craftsman extraordinaire, is collected by over 180 museums around the world.

These three large pieces of multicolored blown glass are in themselves exciting objects. Arranged as they are, in an exhibition setting, they appear to be large, polished stones set in a Japanese Shinto garden. In fact, the title Niijima Floats refers to a Japanese festival.

Born on this day in 1941 in Tacoma, Washington, Dale Chihuly studied with Harvey Littleton, founder of the studio glass movement, at the University of Wisconsin and received an M.F.A. degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. He was co-founder of the Pilchuk Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. He currently works in Seattle, where he collaborates with and directs a team of glass blowers to produce his signature chandeliers, sea forms, baskets, and cylinders.

Source: Kenneth R. Trapp and Howard Risatti. Skilled Work: American Craft in the Renwick Gallery (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998).

Pictured: Dale Chihuly, born 1941, Niijima Floats: Garnet Black and Mint Green Float with Dimple, 1991, blown glass, 18 3/4 x 22 3/4 x 19 1/2 in.; Snow White and Gold Leaf, 1991, blown glass, 21 5/8 x 25 x 24 in.; Mottled Blue Black Float with Silver Leaf, 1992, blown glass, 25 x 26 1/4 x 24 3/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dale and Doug Anderson.