Dale Chihuly - Fiery Orange & Gold Persian Wall
American, b.1942
Fiery Orange & Gold Persian Wall, 2000
Blown and shaped pigmented glass, 72 x 48 x 16 inches
01.015

Purchased in honor of William Davidson

Dale Chihuly is the most famous artist associated with the contemporary glass movement, which had its beginnings in the late 1960s. In 1971, he co-founded the internationally recognized Pilchuk Glass School near Seattle, Washington. Chihuly's art glass is abstract, but his forms and titles trigger associations. Always working in series, Chihuly has created, for example, the famous "baskets," "seaforms," and "Venetians." He is also celebrated for his large-scale installations both indoors and outdoors.

The work in the University of Michigan Business School collection comes from the Persians, a series Chihuly initiated in 1986. It also belongs to a particular presentation of glass known as the Persian Walls. The exotic and intense colors of Fiery Orange and Gold Persian Wall bring to mind the richness of Persian art. Its beautiful floral and vessel-like forms allude to the history of ancient glass.