Upward Undulation

Harvey Littleton (b. 1922), son of the Corning Glass Works scientist Jesse Littleton, was a teaching ceramist before he turned his attention to glassblowing. Inspired by the pioneering work in ceramics of the California potter Peter Voulkos, Littleton started experimenting with hot glass in his studio in 1958. His efforts culminated in the 1962 Toledo glassblowing workshops, which he led with Dominick Labino. Littleton then initiated a glass program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Glass programs were subsequently introduced into art school curricula nationwide, initially through Littleton’s energetic and talented students. Littleton’s sculpture is characterized by rounded, thick blown shapes, often of alternating layers of color. Upward Undulation, made of slumped sheet glass, is an unusual example, but it is typical of the artist’s interest in capturing the dynamic, fluid quality of glass.