Cylinders Mixed Media Original Drawing Contemporary Art

Artist: Dale Chihuly
Title: Untitled (Cylinders)
Medium: Mixed Media, Watercolor Drawing
Size: 14 1/4" x 16 3/4"
Year: 1981
Condition: Museum quality
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

Dale Chihuly mixed media drawings of this era were created as a blueprint to ensure the entire team of artists understood the vision before embarking on a new work. This 1981 example shows 5 cylinders with their unique markings as well as a section of separate unique marking details. Chihuly's drawings reveal the immense creativity, innovation, and attention to detail that sets his work apart from other glass artists. As Chihuly's glass work started to gain widespread recognition, his two dimensional work as quick to follow, lauded for the same qualities that propelled his glass art to acclaim. Chihuly utilizes a wide range of mediums in his drawings, choosing the methods that best communicate the details of his art. The use of watercolor in this piece nicely conveys the transparent qualities seen in many of Chihuly's cylinders are allows the shard detailing to take center stage. The gallery retail price for this original Dale Chihuly Cylinders drawing is approximately $24,000. This piece is framed and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Modern Artifact.

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.