Dale Chihuly Original 1982 Large White Seaform Handblown Glass Contemporary Art

Artist: Dale Chihuly
Title: While Seaform with Oxblood Lip Wrap
Medium: Handblown Glass
Size: 18" x 14" x 8"
Year: 1982
Inscription: Signed and dated on bottom
Condition: Very good quality overall, please request condition report for full details
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

Although there are many examples of large scale Dale Chihuly works in the modern era, pieces of substantial scale from the early 1980s are exceedingly rare. At that time, Chihuly was working with significantly smaller teams of glassblowers than he does today, which limited the size a piece could become. This 18" wide 1982 White Seaform is extraordinary for its time, a truly impressive feat of physical and artistic innovation. Highlighting the dichotomy between opacity and translucency, Chihuly captures the delicate, organic nature of the seaforms' namesake. The choice of white with an oxblood lip is typical of the more muted color pallet associated with Chihuly's early era work. The strong color contrast between the body and the lip wrap helps showcase the unusual shape and incredible details of the piece.

Dale Chihuly's early era work from the 1970s and early 1980s is the most sought after among Chihuly enthusiasts. During that period, Chihuly was establishing his career and had great oversight over every step of the process. The smaller sized teams he worked with not only limited the scale of his pieces but it also limited the size of editions he could create. Accordingly, fewer pieces from this era exist than their modern counterparts.

Dale Chihuly's 1982 While Seaform with Oxblood Lip Wrap is signed and dated on the underside and comes with a gallery certificate of authenticity.

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.