Dale Chihuly 1978 Signed Yellow Indian Blanket Basket Hand Blown Glass

Artist: Dale Chihuly
Title: Yellow Indian Blanket Basket
Medium: Hand-Blown Glass
Dimensions: 7 1/4" x 10 3/4" x 10 1/4"
Year: 1978
Inscription: Signed and dated "Chihuly '78"
Documentation: Includes gallery certificate of authenticity

Dale Chihuly's 1978 Yellow Indian Blanket Basket simultaneously incorporates many elements of the artist's experimental body of work in the 1970s. Dale Chihuly began his Baskets series in 1977, which evolved from his traditionally formed Cylinders and more experimental Soft Cylinders of the earlier 1970s.

Inspired by the design of Indian trade blankets, Chihuly sought to capture the intricate thread motifs into glass art. He created glass thread drawings before using the blowpipe to pick up the drawing and transfer it directly onto the surface of a hot glass vessel. Chihuly's Indian Blanket series is evidence of his perpetual innovation; always exploring new techniques and challenging the pre-conceived notions of what is possible in glass art.

Dale Chihuly's Yellow Indian Blanket Basket is signed and dated Signed and dated "Chihuly '78" and comes with a gallery certificate of authenticity.

About Dale Chihuly

One of the most famous contemporary glass artists in the world, Dale Chihuly is best known for his monumental sculptures and installations. He is the name behind the spectacular ceiling at the Bellagio’s flower garden in Las Vegas and the creator of the Rotunda Chandelier at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Glass works of Dale Chihuly are considered some of the most desired collectibles between the decorative arts devotees today.

Despite his initial indifference towards education, Chihuly has spent a lot of time in school, obtaining both scientific and artistic degree in sculpture from prestigious graduate schools. He displayed a proclivity for interior design and craft early on, but his true passion was always in the glass. He was a Fulbright Fellow in the late 1960s and an apprentice at the Venini Glass Factory in Venice. Mastering the art of Murano glasswork, he continued the experiments with glassblowing and thus became one of the people who brought the ancient art of glassblowing back into the spotlight on an international scale.

Monumental and small-scale artwork of Dale Chihuly is present in over 200 most renowned decorative art collections today, while the artist holds twelve honorary doctorates!

The most illustrious series in his work are Cylinders and Baskets he created in the 1970s; Macchia, Venetians, and Persians from the 1980s, Niijima Floats and Chandeliers created in the 1990s; and a more recent one, Fiori from the 2000s.

For over 30 years, Dale Chihuly has been acting as an artistic director of his team of craftsmen, since he was incapacitated in two accidents, which left him blind in one eye and incapable of holding the blowing tube. This change allowed him to see the possibilities of glass work on a broader scale, while still maintaining his recognizable style.