David Huchthausen:
A Retrospective Collection

July 23, 2016 - January 8, 2017

Exhibition Overview

Museum of Glass presented the West Coast premiere of David Huchthausen: A Retrospective Selection from July 23, 2016 to January 8, 2017. Over his four decades of work, David Huchthausen has made a significant impact on the history of contemporary glass, with much of his art utilizing the slower, cold working glass processes such as cutting and polishing rather than the hot glass techniques more widely known in the Pacific Northwest.

“We exhibited a Huchthausen piece in the exhibition Treasures from Glass Collectors last summer and visitors were incredibly entranced,” noted Susan Warner, Former Artistic Director at Museum of Glass. “This retrospective show allowed visitors to see the full breadth of Huchthausen’s enigmatic and mysterious work— from his earliest mixed-media sculptures and landscape vessels to his trademark integral color laminations and spheres designed to be enjoyed from all directions. While Huchthausen came to glass through blown techniques—as seen in the early Ritual Figurines, Fantasy, and Landscape Vessels—he quickly began composing and assembling sculptures that combine multiple layers of color and glass along with smooth and serrated edges, to create a myriad of light and color reflections that have been compared to the Post-Painterly Abstraction movement. Huchthausen was also one of the first glass artists to emphasize the importance of cold working in realizing his artistic vision. This legacy has inspired and motivated many of the young artists working in glass today.”

Huchthausen has played a vital role in the evolution of glass from craft to fine art form. As a recipient of Fulbright U.S. Student Grants, professor, museum consultant, and artist, Huchthausen has been at the forefront of contemporary glass. His work has been exhibited in over 400 national and international exhibitions and is included in more than 65 museum permanent collections.

While an architecture student at University of Wisconsin-Marathon County in 1970, Huchthausen discovered an abandoned glass furnace, and after six months of struggling, he learned about Harvey Littleton’s work at University of Wisconsin-Madison, just 150 miles away. Huchthausen served as Littleton’s graduate assistant in the early 1970s and then quickly assented into scholarly posts, as director of the glass program at Illinois State University in 1976, and lecturing across Europe as a Fulbright fellow in 1977 and 1978.

Featured Images

Image Credits

1. David Huchthausen (American, born 1951). Sphere 3, 2010. Cut, laminated, and optically-polished glass sphere; 12 in. Courtesy of Huchthausen Studio. Photo by Lloyd Shugart.

2. David Huchthausen (American, born 1951). Leitungs Scherbe, 1983. Laminated and optically-polished architectural glass with projected light; 14 x 16 x 10 in. Courtesy of Huchthausen Studio. Photo courtesy of the artist.

3. David Huchthausen (American, born 1951). Mirage, 1996. Cut, laminated, and optically-polished glass; 10 1/2 x 8 x 7 in. Courtesy of Huchthausen Studio. Photo courtesy of the artist.

4. David Huchthausen (American, born 1951). Implosions Sequence, 1993. Cut, fractured, laminated, and optically-polished glass; 10 x 11 x 8 in. Courtesy of Huchthausen Studio. Photo courtesy of the artist.

5. David Huchthausen (American, born 1951). Echo Chamber, 1999. Cut, laminated, and optically-polished glass; 11 x 9 x 8 in. Courtesy of Huchthausen Studio. Photo courtesy of the artist.

6. Photo courtesy of Duncan Price. 

Exhibition Credit

Organized by David Huchthausen Studio. Sponsored by KING FM 98.1.