Chihuly Venetians

The Venetians series marks a radical departure from the open organic shapes formed, as Chihuly has stated, from “fire, molten glass, human breath, spontaneity, centrifugal force and gravity” which marked Chihuly’s early career. The design of the Venetians, though they share many of the programmatic qualities of the design work which preceded them, were developed along a new aesthetic logic which was derived from Chihuly’s interest in a private collection of Art Deco glass. From this locus, Chihuly teamed up with master Venetian glassblower Lino Tagliapietra to reconsider the elements of the traditional glass vessel by creating glass sculpture that simultaneously embraces and re-imagines tradition in Venetian glass art.


The third and final installment in the individual small book series includes Seaforms, Venetians, Macchia, and Ikebana. Experience the individuality that each of these forms demand through breathtaking photographs.

Specific only to one series, these titles chronicle the renowned artist’s glass sculptures. Certainly compact in appearance but not in content, each book within the collection boasts more than 112 pages comprised of images reflective of the series after which they are named. Essays by Davira Taragin explore the individuality that makes Chihuly so unique.

A companion DVD accompanies each book that includes artist commentary discussing the history of each series, all approximately 15 minutes in running time.

2010 hardcover
6 1/2 x 6 1/2"
112 pages, 76 color photographs
DVD Running time: 15 minutes
ISBN: 978-1-57684-182-2
Published and distributed by Portland Press, Seattle