Topic: Happy 50th "Birthday" to the Studio Glass Movement - Studio Glass 1962-1979

[chopin-liszt]

I'm sure I did meet him once, Frank.
There was a short talk in Dundee, in the MacManus Galleries by Jack who used to be secretary to the Scottish Glass Society - very soon after the SGS Exhibition 2000 was held there and Fritz was there too. I'm pretty sure that's when I first saw an image of this piece but I didn't have the courage to talk to anybody back then! 

[brewster]

In case it is thought that all Australian studio glass derived from Sam Herman and his students, here are four examples from the 1970s that have no connection. The first is by Stephen Skillitzi in 1977, who had experienced the American glass movement as a graduate student in the late 1960s (in art college as a potter - and it shows!). The second is by Helmut Hiebl in 1978, who had worked for Lobmeyr in Austria and Corning in NY (mostly as an engraver) before coming to Australia in 1976 and setting up near Mudgee in the mid-west of NSW.

The next two pieces are by former glassblowers in industry, who left the factory and set up as studio artists. Peter Docherty worked for Crown Crystal in Sydney (later part of the Corning empire) made this tiny 8cm high mushroom in 1979 in a studio near Gosford. Jimmy Wittman worked at Leonora Glassworks (owned by Philips Lighting) in Newcastle before building a backyard furnace. This piece is not signed or dated but it dates from the mid- to late-1970s and came from his personal collection.

Trevor

[flying free]

Superb! I love the Stephen Skillitzi  and Helmut Hiebl.
m

[chopin-liszt]

Fabby, Trevor - this is exactly the sort of thing we need 
- bringing the story from the whole world together.

[brewster]

Here are more treats for fans of Stephen Skillitzi. These pieces are dated 1972, 1977 and 1978, and are 21.5cm high, 37cm long and 23cm high, respectively.

Skillitzi continues to be active. The Adelaide gallery Art Logic has dozens of his works on its website.

He is also something of a historian. A long essay on early Australian studio glass has been mentioned on this board before. The best source for it is this blog which also includes a 1967 photo of the man himself.

Trevor

[chopin-liszt]

I adore the first piece there - it's sort of like a Goth rosebud.. 
I'll have to investigate the links later, my pc is on a go-slow and I'll have to fiddle with it, but thank-you so much for them too,

keep them coming, Trevor, please. 

[flying free]

that blog link gives a superb article on the history of Australian Studio Glass and the makers involved.
Thanks so much for linking it.
m

[brewster]

Here is another treasure for you lovers of the work of Stephen Skillitzi in the 1970s, in this case 1976. This monster is 22cm high and weighs 2.5kg. Like an earlier piece I showed, this one clearly suggests Skillitzi's training as a potter. It also shows why the cow maid's stool has three legs, not the four legs which require greater precision in the making.

We picked it up at a weekend gallery sale in Newcastle, NSW. That city has an industrial heritage that includes coal mining, steel furnaces and, of course, glass making. In case such industrial areas are thought always bleak and dreary, Newcastle boasts some of the most glorious headlands and beaches in Australia. Not even the queue of 15 or so bulk carriers out to sea can take away from the breathtaking views. Recommended!

Trevor

[flying free]

Superb!
m

[chopin-liszt]

Wonderful - it's perfectly wonky and sophisticated... a sculpture of colour, texture and light - an epitomy of great Studio glass... contented sigh.