Images(8)

sculpture

Object NameSculpture

Artist Richard Marquis (American, b. 1945)

Made FromGlass, Wood, Paint, Found Objects, Metal

Date1998

TechniqueBlown, painted wood, assembled

SizeOverall H: 42.3 cm, W: 52 cm, D: 18.9 cm

Accession Number2012.4.111

Curatorial Area(s)

Postwar and Contemporary

Exhibitions

Richard Marquis (solo exhibition)

Masters of Studio Glass: Richard Marquis

Richard Marquis (solo exhibition)

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

A self-described glassblower and collector of beat-up objects, Marquis has made work that ranges from commentary on contemporary art and folk culture to social, art, and glass history. Like the outsider artists that he admires, his pieces are elements, almost by-products, of an elaborate universe under construction. Marquis’s love of glass and glass history is demonstrated by his expert use of classic Venetian techniques such as murrine, granulare, and zanfirico. In Lumpyware Shelf Unit – Lighthouse, a collection of Marquis’s eccentric granulare vessels are presented in the kitsch context of a “Dutch”-style white wood shelf backed by a 1960s paint-by-number painting. This fascination for found objects, coupled with Marquis’s attraction to difficult glassworking techniques, defines his unique style.

Place Made

United States, WA, Whidbey Island

Physical DescriptionSculpture, "Lumpyware Shelf Unit - Lighthouse". Multicolored glass, wood, paint, found objects; blown granulare glass, painted wood, assembled. Framed paint-by-number painting with wooden shelf that holds three glass vessels and six glass mugs. (a) Multicolored patchwork glass vase with roughly cylindrical top and bulbous, roughly cylindrical base. (b) Multicolored patchwork globular glass teapot with fixed lid, spout, and circular handle. (c) Multicolored patchwork glass vase form with tall waisted top half and flattened spherical base. (d) Patchwork handled mug made of black and red glass. (e) Patchwork handled mug made of blue glass. (f) Patchwork handled mug made of orange glass. (g) Patchwork handled mug made of blue and red glass. (h) Patchwork handled mug made of lime green glass. (i) Patchwork handled mug made of black glass with faint red striations. (j) Paint-by-number painting on wood board showing a lighthouse scene. Wooden shelf painted white with scalloped edges fixed to painting. The three glass vessels sit on shelf and the six glass mugs hang from hooks screwed into the base. Photograph of assembled sculpture and one half of a metal wall mount affixed to back of box. Found paint-by-number painting mounted in black frame. (k) One half of a metal wall mount.
Provenance

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