Credit LinePurchased in honor of James R. Houghton with funds from Corning Inc. and gifts from the Ennion Society, the Carbetz Foundation Inc., James B. Flaws and Marcia D. Weber, Maisie Houghton, Polly and John Guth, Mr. and Mrs. Carl H. Pforzheimer III, Wendell P. Weeks and Kim Frock, Alan and Nancy Cameros, the Honorable and Mrs. Amory Houghton Jr., E. Marie McKee and Robert H. Cole, Robert and Elizabeth Turissini, Peter and Cathy Volanakis, and Lino Tagliapietra and the Heller Gallery, New York.
A flock of birds, a school of fish, a fleet of boats—the abstracted shapes of this sculpture lead us to find meaning and beauty in form, pattern, and repetition. Here Lino Tagliapietra was inspired by the fleet of ornately decorated gondolas that gather in the Venetian lagoon for the Festa della Sensa (Feast of the Assumption of Jesus).
Physical DescriptionRed, pink, orange, yellow, gold, tan, brown, green, yellow-green, blue-green, blue, turquoise, black, and colorless glass; blown, hot-worked and battuto cut. Large installation composed of 18 elongated boat forms (canoa) that are suspended in the air by steel cables. Some of the objects are fused and blown murrine, others have filigrana cane decoration. The configuration of the boat forms may vary. a) hazy colorless, shiny interior, ground exterior; b) colorless, orange-brown and blue strips, ground "tortoise shell" pattern on exterior; c) orange interior with black stripes, exterior cut with "tortoise shell" pattern; d) colorless and black and orange lines, exterior ground parallel lines across body; e) yellow tint with black bands, ground parallel across body; f) colorless, orange and red strips, ground "tortoise shell" pattern on outside surface; g) colorless with alternating bands of colorless, yellow, white and brown; ground parallel bands across body; h) colorless, light and dark blue, ground pattern over entire exterior surface; i) colorless, yellow and black fine lines, ground "tortoise shell" pattern on exterior; j) colorless, light green and blue stripes, ground in "tortoise shell" on exterior; k) amber cased in colorless, exterior ground with parallel pattern running across body; l) multi-colored bands in green and purple, cut across body, parallel bands; m) colorless, green and black strips along body, cut with parallel lines across body; n) cased colorless, light and dark pine lines, ground patterning on exterior; o) colorless and light blue with brown strips, cut in "tortoise shell" pattern on exterior to deep blue areas; p) colorless, orange and light blue stripes, ground and cut with parallel lines diagonally across body; q) colorless (cased), light green, yellow and brown strips, exterior ground half "tortoise shell" and half parallel lines across body; r) deep orange and red strips, cut with "tortoise shell" pattern on outside. Provenance
