Cadmium Red Basket by Chihuly in the Brooklyn Museum, March 2010

Cadmium Red Basket Set with Plumbeous Black Lip Wrap

Dale Chihuly is the best-known glass artist in the United States. Trained at the University of Wisconsin and the Rhode Island School of Design, he received the first Fulbright Fellowship in glass and went to Venice in 1968 to study at Venini, the most progressive glass factory in Italy. In 1971 he established the Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle, the only American art school devoted entirely to glassmaking. His affinity for the Northwest is profound; he has strong ties to the landscape and great interest in the arts of the native peoples there. This particular work was inspired by the traditional woven baskets of the Haida and other Northwest Coast tribes.

Chihuly has moved from small-scale vases of recognizable form to art that transcends the boundaries of traditional glassmaking. As this "basket" demonstrates, he has abandoned functionalism in favor of large sculptural forms. Often he and his assistants work on a grand scale, creating large environments composed of many thousands of glass elements for specific sites. In 1994, he created Brooklyn Wall, a temporary installation in the Museum's lobby.

Maker: Dale Chihuly

Medium: Glass

Dates: Designed and made 1993

Dimensions: 19 x 37 x 21 ins

Markings: no marks

Signature: no signature

Inscriptions: no inscriptions

Collections: Decorative Arts

Museum Location: This item is on view in Decorative Arts Galleries, 4th Floor

Accession Number: 1995.60a-k

Credit Line: Gift of Charles Cowles and Dale Chihuly

Text from: brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/154123/Cadmium_...