The Musée des Arts Décoratifs at The Louvre Acquires 18 "Character Heads" Drawings

PARIS, FRANCE — The Musée des Arts Décoratifs has accepted a gift of eighteen conceptual drawings from the archive of artist Dan Dailey. The Museum already owns The Doctor (above), a vase from Dailey’s 1988 Character Heads series of twenty blown glass vessels based upon these original pencil drawings.

The Prince / Chief / Warrior / Major

The Chef

The Counselor

The Doctor

The Genius

The Baffoon

The Sage

The Matron

The Duchess

The Soldier

The Dignitary

The Magician

The Dryad

The Gourmand

The Empress

The Strongman

The Shrew

The Stripper

“These eighteen graphite studies for anthropomorphic vases testify to the place of drawing in [Dailey’s] creative process and its close relationship with glass,” writes Museum Director Christine Macel. “We are grateful for such a gift that will enrich our collection.” The museum also owns Dailey’s Flute Véronèse 17, a gift from the Daum crystal factory (Nancy, France) where Dailey has worked periodically as an independent designer since 1976.

Located in the north-western wing of the Palais du Louvre, The Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Museum of Decorative Arts), is dedicated to the exhibition and preservation of the decorative arts from around the world. With approximately one million objects in its collection, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is the largest museum of decorative arts in continental Europe. It is one of three museums operated by the non-profit arts association Les Arts Décoratifs, founded in 1882.

"Banana Woman" of the Face Vase Series is Acquired by the Peabody Essex Museum

SALEM, MA — The Peabody Essex Museum has announced a major gift of the glass collection of New York-based philanthropists, Betty and Carl Pforzheimer. The Carl and Betty Pforzheimer Collection contains over 200 works of international studio glass and 40 pieces of historic European and American glass. Among these works is “Banana Woman”, a 1990 blown glass vase by Dan Dailey from his Face Vase series (1988-1997).

View fullsize

This acquisition significantly expands PEM’s noted historic glass collection while celebrating the extraordinary aesthetic possibilities that the combination of sand and fire achieves. Selections from this collection, which is remarkable for the diversity of form, scale and technique, will go on view in PEM’s Native American and American Art galleries this year. In 2024, the collection will be featured in the new Pforzheimer Gallery.

“Betty and Carl Pforzheimer have assembled an astounding collection, featuring the work of more than 90 artists, many of whom will be represented in PEM's collection for the first time,” said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, PEM’s Executive Director and CEO. “The Pforzheimers’ generous donation of works and companion funding establishes PEM as an important destination for experiencing this remarkable medium and also assures the long term accessibility, care and scholarship of the Pforzheimer Collection for generations to come.”

Founded in 1799 by America's first global entrepreneurs, the Peabody Essex Museum is a museum of international art and culture dedicated to connecting art to the world in which it is made. Through its exhibitions, programs, publications, media, and related activities, PEM strives to create experiences that transform people's lives by broadening their perspectives, attitudes, and knowledge of themselves and the wider world.

Bar Scene — A New Residential Installation

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Dan Dailey has completed the installation of a custom blown glass illuminated sculpture in a Scottsdale Arizona home. The private commission, titled Bar Scene, is a culmination of Dailey’s popular Individuals series.

View fullsize

The ten-foot-long glass and stainless steel sculpture illuminates itself and the bar, activating a two-story space in the stylish home cantina. Nine reveling figures are depicted, resembling personalities from Dailey’s Individuals series (2004-ongoing)— 129 colorful, life-sized portraits of the human spirit in all walks-of-life. Bar Scene is the only piece to date that depicts multiple Dan Dailey "Individuals” together as a group.

Dailey says his client’s interest in the Individuals series led to the idea for a ‘bar scene’ with multiple characters interacting. “The uplighting accentuates their gestures and facial expressions, while the steel cloud supporting the sculpture allows for downlighting to the bar surface,” he said. “The entire piece becomes, in effect, a kind of chandelier.”

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

“My narrative and illustrative approach to the piece sets a mood in this space that I feel determines some of the character in this part of the house,” Dailey added. “As contemporary and dramatic as the architecture is, some basic human sensibilities are expressed in the sculpture.” 

The project took three years to complete, and was delayed for eight months due to the pandemic. This work is the most recent of more than 70 architectural commissions Dailey has completed since 1971.

"Five Wild Dogs" of the Circus Vase Series is Acquired by the National Museum of Sweden

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — In the spring of 2023, National Museum of Fine Arts will present an exhibition showing American Crafts from the 1950s up until today. Everything from small pieces of jewelry to chairs and impressive wall pieces and textiles will be on view. Among these works is “Five Wild Dogs”, a 1998 blown glass vase by Dan Dailey from his Circus Vase series. The collection of objects has been assembled by gallerist and curator Helen Drutt. The selection of 83 works will enrich Nationalmuseum’s collections and will provide a possibility to look at American Crafts in the Nordic context.

This collection also includes objects by prominent American designers such as Jill Bonovitz, Nancy Carman, Anne Currier, Michael Hurwitz and Jere Osgood, i.e. American artists, or artists who emigrated and formed their practice in America. The objects have been gifted to The American Friends of the Nationalmuseum of Sweden Foundation, whose mission is to foster and support understanding and appreciation of art and design, and to support Nationalmuseum.

Nationalmuseum is Sweden's museum of art and design. Nationalmuseum is also a government authority with a mandate to preserve cultural heritage and promote art, interest in art and knowledge of art. The collections comprise of painting, sculpture, drawings and prints from 1500-1900 and applied arts, design and portraits from early Middle Ages up until present day.

In Memory of Mark Weiner

Mark Weiner had a heart attack in the midst of achieving one of the biggest goals he had ever pursued. He was very close to the point where he might have stepped back to appreciate what had been accomplished. Michiko Weiner, his loving wife, mother of their children, and partner in this long professional endeavor, was with him in their new showroom when this occurred. Such a dream-shattering event was something unimaginable and completely uncharacteristic, especially considering his physical stature and energy. Mark was the strongest man around most of the time. 

He was good at helping others, and often made the effort to step in when he knew of someone’s need. This was never more apparent than his decision to become an organ donor. Now several people who will never know Mark Weiner are living longer because of his very important gifts.

Mark’s skills were remarkable, and he thoroughly enjoyed work, especially glassblowing. We met when he became my student at Mass Art in 1982. Within a month or two he became my assistant in the glassblowing process, meeting me at the Mass Art hot shop at 5:00am to work and blow glass for three hours before classes began. He accompanied me as a teaching assistant for summer sessions at Pilchuck and Haystack, and he began to form working relationships elsewhere around the U.S. He helped me as the glassblower at various factories where they let me use their glass, enjoying the industrial-scale facilities with their vast capacity and potential as much as I enjoy them. We worked primarily at Fenton in West Virginia, and at Daum in France, and we had good times traveling there for the work. We also enjoyed being involved in the communities of workers and managers and designers and company owners. The momentum and the traditions of these factories were quite different from each other, but both led to opportunities to make colors and work with quantities of glass not achievable elsewhere, and to accomplish work far beyond the capacity of my studio or any academic or private studio facility. This factory experience informed Mark’s approach to glassblowing. He later worked with Lino Tagliapietra, who came from the factory workplace and conveyed many traditional Italian glassblowing techniques to Mark, while calling him “Marco.” 

Once, in a hotel in West Virginia, I came out of the bathroom and found Mark upside down, doing handstand push-ups with his feet sliding against the wall of the room. He was always pushing himself to limits, and he said this was his way of preparing for the factory work that day; it helped his back feel better. He had injured his back years before when he was stringing barbed wire and setting fence posts with another guy on a ranch in Wyoming. A tractor flipped over and landed on his co-worker, and Mark lifted the tractor off him to save his friend’s life, straining his back severely. The pain stayed with him years later. 

Mark and I had many good days in Paris, often in the rain, walking all day from one arrondissement to the next, covering kilometers of sidewalk and enjoying the neighborhoods, museums, stores, flea markets, food markets, wine bars— exploring anything about the city that intrigued us. In Nancy, the Daum factory made tanks of crystal in colors I selected and set us up to work at a furnace to make blanks for my vase series pieces, and they assigned a couple of their men to help us when needed. Mark readily became friends with many of the factory people, and they all made comments about the American with the big laugh, and his different ways of glassblowing. They all liked Mark’s wonderfully friendly attitude and his exuberant personality. My friends there were very happy to have Mark join us for dinners and family gatherings and stay at their homes for a couple of weeks each visit.  

When Mark began working as a studio glassblower he became much more serious. His living depended on dedication to designing and making product while building a reputation and maintaining the facility. He knew well what his competition around the U.S. was up to, being friends with so many glassblowers across the country and striving to create his own distinct glass pieces with the integrity of design he imagined. Michiko Weiner, his creative collaborator, was Mark’s strongest advocate. Michiko’s sense of design profoundly altered his focus, and they have produced collaborative works for years now that exemplify a singular aesthetic. The Mark + Michiko brand they just established in Calistoga shows the results of years developing their own distinct product line. High quality was a main tenet of Mark’s creative approach. He would throw away anything he made that didn’t reach the standard he set for himself. 

Mark enjoyed many types of cuisine and was knowledgeable about wine, and he informed himself to understand the origins of his favorites. He would discuss these proclivities with me as if I already knew what he knew, delighting in the camaraderie of sharing good memories or in anticipation of enjoying such special food and drink. His thoughts often drifted to ironic humor as he told me of various experiences with individuals who astonished him with behavior that he considered dense or inept. Yet he was open and kind to many, and certainly had a large community of friends across the country in different walks of life. He treated our family as his own, and was a kind of father figure, or “uncle” to our children as they grew up.

Throughout the 1990s Mark made numerous sets of drinking glasses for me; simple clear cylinders with a twisted rib mold pattern and applied opaque primary-colored rims. The glasses, which some call “cups,” are always on a kitchen shelf, or on our table being used for water, wine or a smoothie, or in the dishwasher— a constant friendly reminder of Mark’s presence. His work remains distinctively his own, a clean and minimal aesthetic allowing the mechanics of glass forming to speak for themselves, and exhibiting a style and attitude based on tradition but also streamlined to minimize superfluous pattern and color. The weight and balance of his pieces is evidence of the effort he made toward practical use of his glass while maintaining a recognizable look of his own. He and Michiko developed a market for the pieces they created and didn’t take them to fairs or supply galleries and shops. They established their own identity within a larger community of glassblowers. They built their new glassblowing studio and a retail gallery in the place they wanted to be and began the next chapter of their lives through hard work and dedication of purpose, singular good design, and outstanding skills.

Marco, as many came to call him, carried the torch for glassblowing over many years and did so with a self-aware determination that was inspiring. He lives on in our thoughts as we raise his drinking glasses to toast the life of a dear friend; well lived and much loved.

—Dan Dailey