Dale Chihuly
American, born 1941Flint Institute of Arts Persian Chandelier, 2009
On view
Blown glass
Dimensions125 × 156 × 132 in. (317.5 × 396.2 × 335.3 cm)
FIA Commission with funds donated by Claire and William S. White, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the Isabel Foundation, 2009.51
Since co-founding the Pilchuck Glass School in 1971, Dale Chihuly has led the avant-garde in the development of glass as a fine art. He began his Persian series in 1986. This series gradually evolved from nested seaform-like groupings to more dramatic groupings of large and small forms, and then to monumental wall, floor, and ceiling installations like this one. His installations often combine ancient vessel forms with vivid saturated colors, incorporating the threadlike striations associated with Venetian glass.
