To be on fire

We regularly focus on a specific theme in order to introduce you to different glass art techniques, tracing their development and potential on the current art scene. So now, after last year’s show on cold glass techniques, we are taking a look at lamp glass in what is, incidentally, our third exhibition on this topic. There is good reason for revisiting this theme, because an expedition through today’s European lamp glass scene is an exciting one, full of new discoveries.

Lamp glass got its name from being blown freely over the open flame of a lamp rather than moulded in a furnace – although this designation can be misleading as today the flame comes from a gas burner. Up until the mid-nineteenth century, an oil lamp was actually used, equipped with an additional air supply.

Lamp glass is a very old technique, dating back to antiquity. The craft then began to flourish in the sixteenth century, radiating outwards from Venice. France, the Netherlands and Germany became additional key locations. Today, as in the past, the German centre of lamp-blown glass is the Thuringian Forest, specifically the town of Lauscha.

For a long time, lamp glass was considered the art of small objects, allowing craftspeople to perfectly shape beads, miniatures, ornaments and small vessels.

Ever since the early 1990s, however, the lamp glass scene has been spreading, and today it is sparking a revival of art glass on an unprecedented scale. The lamp glass technique has even been adopted by the youngest generation of artists. Artists’ enthusiasm for lamp glass is evident in the creative ideas they conceive for this technique and the resulting objects. With free, sculptural, and sometimes large-format pieces, they are revolutionising lamp glass, opening up new possibilities for modern art.

We have invited nine outstanding artists from different European countries to present their work. They all share a common technique, and yet the “world” in which each one works tells its very own story. This is demonstrated by their artwork.

Please join us in exploring the work of our featured artists: Falk Bauer, André and Rebekka Gutgesell, Krista Israel, James Lethbridge, Susan Liebold, JanHein van Stiphout, Christine Vanoppen and Nataliya Vladychko.

We also promise you a “déjà vu” experience with artists from our collection.

Photo above: Susan Liebold, Kugel 1, 2022 – Foto Ronny Koch

Photos (from left):

Nataliya Vladychko, Triticum, 2020 – Photo Steven van Kooijk

James Lethbridge, Nightingale’s Sorrow – a Covid 19 replica – Photo James Lethbridge

Falk Bauer, Reisigbündler, 2022 – Photo Falk Bauer

Christine Vanoppen, Infinity, 2019 – Photo Christine Vanoppen

 Krista Israel, Good Hair Is 90% Of The Perfect Selfie, 2021 – Photo Steven van Kooijk Photography

Siobhan Healy, Herbarium, 2011 – Photo Lighthouse Photographics

Falk Bauer, Spinnennetz mit Insekten, 2023 – Photo Falk Bauer

James Lethbridge, Acanthus Veronese in Blue – Photo James Lethbridge

 André Gutgesell, Familie 1, 2 + 3, 2018 – Photo Lutz Naumann

JanHein van Stiphout, Flora Venena (detail), 2005 – Photo JanHein van Stiphout

Rebekka + André Gutgesell, Let it Go, or the start of the journey, 2014 – Photo Rebekka Gutgesell

Susan Liebold, Freistehendes Objekt, 2023 – Photo Ronny Koch