Chihuly at Biltmore is an impressive exhibition of art in glass. We end the series with Sole d Oro in front of the Biltmore House at blue hour.
Tag Archives: Chihuly
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Sole d Oro
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Reflections Palazzo Ducale Tower
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Fiori Boat
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Float Boat and Niijima Floats
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Neodymium Reeds with Fiori Verdi
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Pergola Garden Fiori
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Electric Yellow and Deep Coral Tower
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Art in Glass
Chihuly at Biltmore – Laguna Torcello II
Named after a lagoon in Venice, Italy, Laguna Torcello, is part of Chihuly’s Mille Fiori (a “thousand flowers” in Italian) series, which began in 2003. Laguna Torcello II focuses on the gold color palette from this iconic installation, and features an array of Chihuly forms, including reeds, fiori, eelgrass, floats, and Towers, the only exhibit inside Biltmore House.
Chihuly at Biltmore – Sky Blue and Cobalt Fiori
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Paintbrush Tower
Chihuly at Biltmore – Lighted Cattails and Copper Birch Reeds
Chihuly at Biltmore – Float Boat and Niijima Floats
Chihuly first filled boats with glass in Nuutajärvi, Finland, during the “Chihuly Over Venice” project in 1995. After several days of glassblowing, Chihuly started tossing glass forms into the Nuutajoki river to see how they would look in the environment. As the glass floated downstream it was retrieved in wooden boats by local teenagers, inspiring Chihuly to begin massing forms into wooden boats, creating what would become the Boat series.
Named for the island of Niijima in Tokyo Bay, and for the small Japanese fishing floats Chihuly would find on the shores of Puget Sound as a child, Niijima Floats are very likely the largest glass spheres ever blown (up to 40 inches in diameter and up to 80 pounds). The Floats are generally displayed in groups, either indoors or outdoors. New Floats were blown for the Biltmore exhibition.
Chihuly at Biltmore – Neodymium Reeds with Fiori Verdi
Chihuly made his first Reeds in 1995 at the Hackman factory in Nuutajärvi, a small glassblowing town in Finland. The Hackman facility had high ceilings and large annealing ovens, allowing Chihuly to make these elongated forms.
To create the long, tubular shape of a Reed, one glassblower must be elevated in a mechanical lift while blowing through the pipe to encourage the form to stretch, while another pulls the glass toward the ground.
Neodymium Reeds with Fiori Verdi at Biltmore incorporates reeds that were made at the Hackman factory in Nuutajärvi.
Chihuly at Biltmore – Fiori Boat
The Fiori Boat, designed for Chihuly at Biltmore, features a vast array of Chihuly’s whimsical, nature-inspired forms, including herons, seal pups, marlins, cattails, onions, and reeds.
Chihuly at Biltmore – Palazzo Ducale Tower
The Palazzo Ducale Tower at Biltmore is a classic demonstration of Chihuly’s desire to mass color on a steel armature for dramatic effect. The Tower rises from the ground like a huge stalagmite and has become an iconic installation in Chihuly’s exhibitions.