Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Scandinavian Glass => Topic started by: gfirob on December 11, 2011, 05:41:58 AM
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I recently got another piece of Gunnel Nyman glass (a clear Huntu) and I have been trying to get more information about her. There are brief bios of her in most of the books I have about Scandinavian or Finnish glass, but the only actual book about her that I know of is long out of print and unavailable (Gunnel Nyman, Beauty Captured in Glass). I was just unhappily outbid on the only copy I have ever seen on ebay.
Could anyone suggest either a scholar in Finland or a collector somewhere (an English speaker) who would be willing to have an email conversation about this remarkable designer? I have beaten the internet to death about this and I certainly know the basics, but I would like to learn more.
I just looked at a series of photographs that someone had uploaded to the web of all her glass at the 2009 exhibit at the Finnish Glass Museum, and the scope of her work is much broader than I thought. And her work was clearly very influential to the subsequent development of Finnish glass.
Anyway, does anybody have any suggestions about how I can find out more about her? Any suggestions at all would be helpful.
Thanks for your help,
Rob Gardner
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Matiskainen, Heikki Gunnel Nyman, Ausst. Kat. Finnisches Glasmuseum, Riihimäki 1987 - out of print, but keep an eye out for it
this is also worth getting, and should come with a CD of a lot of her bits - they are collectors and cover Nyman, Bianconi, Venini and Lundgren
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/9783980820820/Formdesign-Farbdesign-Finnisches-Italienisches-Glas-3980820823/plp
German/English catalog ( 120 pages ) and CD-rom ( 740 pages )
the Losch's have a website with a lot of there bits on, and used to sell this directly, but no more I fear
http://www.the-loschs.com/index.html
they have an exhibition/museum inDüsseldorf
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Thanks very much for your information and your generosity, Gareth. I'll see if I can track them down. Sounds great.
I am looking forward to seeing some of this new stuff you suggest.
Rob Gardner
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Suggestion
You might want to check in with The Finnish Glass Museum on two levels. The staff experts and their book store
might have a book with appropriate information.
Bill Geary
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Thanks, Bill, I have been in touch with them, trying to track down some publications. They say they have one of four I am trying to track down:
-- Gunnel Nyman. The Finnish Glass Museum's research publications. The Bulletin of the Finnish Glass Museum. Studies on the glass - Glass Research IV. In 1987.
-- Koivisto, Kaisa, three stories of glass. Finnish glass design from 1946 to 1957. The Finnish Glass Museum's research publications. Studies on the glass-Glass Research XIII. Vammala 2001. [This one the Glass Museum says they can sell me)
-- Poutasuo, Tuula, a modern glass: Artist Stories. Visions. Modern Finnish Design. Eds. Anne Stenros. Big Dipper. Keuruu 1999.
-- Mathiesen, Bridget, Gunnel Nyman. Modernism in Finnish art glass. Form Function. Vol 2 / 1987
Anyone familiar with these?
I also sent a note to Tina Oldknow, Curator of Modern Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass in the US, to see if she had any suggestions.
Thanks again for your help.
Rob
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Hi:
The Rakow Library at the Corning Museum of Glass has the largest collection in the world of information on glass .
They have their own website where you can contact a Reference Librarian. My experience is they go out of their way
to be of assistance.
Bill Geary
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Thanks,Bill. I have been in touch with Ken Burns at the Rakow Library (not the filmmaker) and he gave me Tina Oldknow's email address. He told me they would lend me a copy of the Gunnel Nyman book, but sadly they only have one of them, so they cannot. If I can get a copy through the inter-library load from UVA, I will scan all 170 pages. I know that somewhere out in the world is an obsessive collector of her glass that probably knows everything about her work and has every publication ever written in any language, (as is the nature of obsessive collectors), and I hope to stumble across them one of these days. One of the most interesting resources I have found was the extensive photo coverage of the Finnish Glass Museum's show about Gunnel Nyman, taken by a nice Finnish lady and loaded onto the internet. Not a lot of close-ups but a very clear representation of the scope of her work. Great stuff.
Thanks again for your help.
rob
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Hi,
I got the book Gunnel Nyman - Lasiin Vangittu Kauneus (Beauty captured in glass). Took me months to track it down but I finally got it and it was quite expensive (for a book) - in fact I got the last copy the bookstore had. Also, just today I found a secondhand bookstore that is selling the Gunnel Nyman Glass Research IV, again at an exorbitant price.
FYI: The first book has Finnish and English texts throughout. The Glass Research book is mainly in Finnish and has an English summary only at the end of the book, which will definitely not be a tandem translation of the main Finnish texts.
JV
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Congratulations on finding that book. I finally got a copy sent To me through an out of state university library loan and made a digital copy of all 160 pages . It is a beautifully produced book and Nyman's own essay is lovely. Some of the English translations were a little weak, but overall an important book. What country did you buy it in? Do you collect her glass?
Thanks
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Just 2 days ago, I bought the The Glass Research book from a secondhand book dealer in Finland. I thought that it was interesting that the book has a dust cover and it is softbound. None of the other Glass Research books have dust covers. Sometimes, I feel it is more fun collecting obscure and hard to find glass books than the glasses themselves!
Anyway, I do collect her glass but they are becoming very expensive. I have all 3 colors of the model GN12 and I also managed to get the egg shell which not easily found. I also learned that her glasses with acid etched signatures are more expensive than the diamond engraved ones because those with acid etched signatures were made when she was still alive. You could still get her tableware glasses and jugs at quite a reasonable price, but they are unsigned.
And you should try to get the 'Designlasin hintakirja' book.
JV
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I envy you your Finnish location, John (and, i assume, your ability to read Finnish). The Nyman pieces I have all come from Europe. I have a clear Huntu piece and massive violet GN25 and the very sweet little cream and sugar set that is more common. I also have the Humppila copy of her Serpentine piece. As you know, her work is unusual to find and pretty expensive. Given that the US was a big market for Finnish glass, I would think that more of it would pop up at the dealers here and on ebay, but Nyman rarely does. I have sent several emails to the Finnish Glass Museum, but I think there are either language or staffing issues because the response is limited. The Corning Museum in New York was more helpful, but limited in what they could send me. I am very interested to hear that the acid signatures indicate pieces made while she was still living. I also think that it is interesting that there is seems to be relatively little awareness of her and her influence, compared, say, to Sarpaneva or Wirkkala, though their careers were much longer. It sounds as if you have some lovely pieces. The egg shell piece is great.
Anyway, thanks for sharing the information. And if you come across another copy of that book in some Finnish book shop, drop me a note...
Best
Rob