Interested in learning more about some of the artists and designers whose work is included in New Glass Now | Context at the Rakow Research Library? Below are links to some resources that can help you get started. If you don't see the name you're looking for on this page, contact the Library, and we'll be happy to assist you.
For information on artists featured in New Glass Now, go to the exhibition website for basic information, and also search for those artists online.
Note: If a name is followed by an asterisk, the Rakow Research Library has a more extensive list of resources about that person that we would be happy to share with you. If there is not an asterisk after a name, we would still be happy to assist you in your search for more information. Just contact the Library.
In 1921 John Burton co-founded the Sheffield Educational Settlement and served as director of arts and crafts. In 1927 he moved to California, where he worked as a freelance glass artist. He has been credited with developing the first degree-level program in flameworking, which was offered at Pepperdine (Los Angeles) from 1968 to 1973. Burton authored the following book:
His work was included in both Glass 1959 and New Glass: a Worldwide Survey (1979) at The Corning Museum of Glass.
Václav Cigler studied at the Specialised School for Glassmaking in Novy Bor, Czechoslovakia (1948-51) and at the Vysoká Skola Umeleckoprumyslová (VSUP) in Prague (1951-57). In 1965 he became Head of Glass in the Architecture Department at the Vysoká skola vytvarnych umení (Academy of Fine Arts and Design) in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia [now Slovakia], where he remained until 1979. (Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Edythe Aline Eckhardt received her certificate in sculpture from the Cleveland School of Art in 1929 and changed her name to Edris Eckhardt in 1931. From 1933 to 1960, Eckhardt worked as a ceramics instructor at the Cleveland School of Art. Eckhardt began working in glass in the late 1940s. Eckhardt was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships in 1956 and 1959. In 1990 she was elected a Fellow of the American Crafts Council.
Her work was exhibited at the following:
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Kaj Franck studied at Taideteollinen korkeakoulu in Helsinki (1929-32). He served off and on in the Finnish Army from 1933 to 1945, and worked as a freelance designer. In 1945 he began working for Wärtsila-Arabia, which merged with Nuutajärvi glassworks in 1950. In 1951, he became artistic director there, and remained in that position until 1976. Franck also taught at Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu in Helsinki (1945-67).
He received several awards, including the following:
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Audrey Handler studied at a number of institutions, earning a B.F.A. in 1956 from Boston University School of Fine and Applied Arts and an M.F.A. under Harvey Littleton at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970. She has been an instructor in glass at Penland School of Crafts; Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; and in the commercial art department Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin. Handler was awarded National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants in 1977-78 and 1980-81. (Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Frances Stewart Higgins studied weaving and art at Georgia State College for Women [now Georgia College and State University] and graduated with a B.S. She then taught art at junior high schools in Atlanta, Georgia (1935-44) and at the University of Georgia (1948-48). She also earned an M.F.A. from the Institute of Design in Chicago in 1948.
Michael Higgins was born in London, England, and studied at King’s College, Cambridge University. He also attended night classes at Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
Frances Stewart married Michael Higgins in 1948, and they established the Higgins Studio. In 1957 they formed a partnership with the Dearborn Glass Company in Chicago, which continued until 1966. Their "Higginsware" line included tableware and lamps.
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Pavel Hlava studied engraving and glass cutting at the Specialised Glass School in Zelezny Brod and sculpture and art glass at the Vysoká Skola Umeleckoprumyslová (Academy of Applied Arts), Prague (1942-48).
Hlava's work was included in the following exhibitions:
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Erik Höglund studied at the Konstfackskolan in Stockholm (1948-53). Between 1953 and 1973, he designed glass for Boda. From 1973 he was a visiting professor at the Pilchuck Glass School, and during the late 1980s he developed a relationship with Studioglas Strömbergshyttan in Hovmantorp, Sweden. In addition to working in glass, Höglund was a painter, sculptor, and metalsmith. He was awarded the Lunning Prize in 1957. (Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Kyoichiro Kawakami, grandson of Japanese glass designer Denjiro Kawakami, studied at the National University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo (1953-56) and worked in the advertising department of Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (1956-63). From 1963 to 1986, he worked in the product design department of the Hoya Crystal Corporation, Tokyo.
Kawakami's work was exhibited in the following:
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
In 1954 Libenský and Brychtová married, then collaborated as artists for many years. They received the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle et Internationale in Brussels (1958); a Gold Medal at the VIII. Bienal Internacional de Arte in São Paulo, Brazil (1965); the Bayerischer Staatspreis (Gold Medal) at the Internationale Handwerkmesse in Munich, Germany (1967, 1995); the Rakow Award for Excellence in Glass from The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York (1984); the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Craft Council in New York City (1997); the Lifetime Achievement Award from UrbanGlass in New York City (1997); and honorary doctorates from the University of Sunderland (England) (1999) and Rhode Island School of Design (2000). (Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Their work was included in both Glass 1959 and New Glass: A Worldwide Survey (1979) at The Corning Museum of Glass. Pictured: Sculpture. Head I. 1957-1958. CMoG 62.3.132.
In Prague, Vera Lisková studied at the School of Graphic Arts (1939-41), the Vysoká Skola Umeleckoprumyslová (1941-43), and the Academy of Applied Arts (1945-49). From 1949 to 1961 she was a freelance designer for the Moser Glassworks in Karlovy Vary. She was awarded the Bayerischer Stadtpreis at the Internationale Handwerks-Messe in Munich in 1973. (Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Annette Meech received a DipAD in Industrial Design (ceramics/glass) in 1969, and in 1972 she received an MA in Glass from the Royal College of Art in London. In 1971, she started occasional weekend work at The Glasshouse, and in 1972 she joined The Glasshouse on a permanent basis. In 1999 she set up Glasshouse de Sivignoní in France with Christopher Williams, with assistance from Peter Durkin.
Lucrecia Moyano de Muñiz (1902-1998) studied painting before she began designing glass, rugs, and furniture. She became the artistic director of Cristalerias Rigolleau, S.A. in Buenos Aires in 1932. Her glassware was exhibited at the following:
Her Anthropomorphic Vase (CMoG 61.5.4) was included in Glass 1959 at The Corning Museum of Glass and is currently on display in New Glass Now | Context.
Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net. You can also read an interesting biographical profile of her from La Nacion, "Le belleza transparente" (April 4, 1999). See also:
From The Corning Museum of Glass website: "Tom Patti has been working in glass since the 1960s, and has received international attention for his small-scale sculptural glass works and large-scale public commissions, which integrate the aesthetic and technical concerns of glass. Unlike many Studio Glass pioneers of his generation, Patti did not focus on traditional glass techniques, but embraced the use of industrial sheet glass to make small, compacted glass sculptures with a complex inner architecture." Read more of Patti's biography...
From The Corning Museum of Glass website: "Mark Peiser saw himself in many roles before turning to glass: a designer and architectural model maker, a pianist, and a builder of harpsichords among other things. But when none of those provided the fulfillment he craved, it was a series of unforeseen coincidences that eventually led him to Penland School of Crafts in 1967, and a career with glass. Now, more than a half century later, his name is synonymous with invention and precision. 'Perfection is always a goal, but also a moving target,' said Peiser. 'I never think of achieving perfection—since I’ve never made a perfect piece—but I do demand a level of quality in my work.' Read more of Peiser's biography...
Dalbor Tichý trained at the Specialized School of Glassmaking in Kamenicky Senov (1965-70) and at the Vysoká Skola Umeleckoprumyslová in Prague (1970-76). From 1976 to 1980 he worked as a designer at the Crystalex Glassworks in Novy Bor.
Work by Tichý was featured in the following exhibitions:
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net
Milena Velišková was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied at the Graduate School of Architecture in Prague (1936-38), worked as a designer at the Ceskomoravské sklárny glassworks in Krásno nad Becvou (1942-45), taught at the Univerzita Karlova in Prague (1945-46), directed the design office of the Beránek glassworks in Skrdlovice (1950-60), and was a designer at the Lustry Glassworks in Kamenicky Senov (1960-62).
Awards received by Veliškova include:
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Lella (Valle) Vignelli attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1955-58). There she met Massimo Vignelli, and they married in 1957. Massimo studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan (1948-50), the Politecnico di Milano (1950-53), and at the Università di Archittetura in Venice (1953-57). He taught at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago (1958-60).
In 1960 the couple established Lella & Massimo Vignelli Office of Design & Architecture in Milan. Lella was awarded a D. Arch. in 1962 from the Istituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice.
In 1964, Massimo Vignelli and Ralph Eckerstrom founded the design and marketing firm Unimark International (UI) in Chicago, Illinois. In 1966 the Vignellis moved to New York to set up a branch office. In 1971, they left UI to establish a design firm, Vignelli Associates. In 1978, they founded Vignelli Designs, with Lella as president.
Lella received many honors, including:
Massimo also received many honors, including:
(Biographical information taken from Arts+Architecture ProFiles in Art History Research Net.)
Mary Warren earned a B.F.A. in glass in 1978 from the California College of Arts and Crafts (Oakland), and an M.F.A. in sculpture from the University of Washington, Seattle.