GLASSWORKS: The Art of Frederick Birkhill

The Glassworks book cover features a blue, brown, and transparent glass orb that has many bubbles trapped inside the glass.
Artist Frederick Birkhill works on a glass orb at a workbench. His reflection appears in a mirror across the table.
Five glass goblets of different heights appear together. All have golden-colored cups and a tall, slender blue or maroon stem with a round foot.
A collection of transparent glass orbs and ornaments patterned with multicolored stripes are scattered on top of a white backdrop.
A white, oblong glass orb with brown marbling appears against a flat black background.
Three black glass vessels of similar heights appear together. Each has a narrow neck and a wide, round body patterned with multicolor abstract shapes.
An oblong orb with a dark brown interior surrounded by a layer of transparent glass bubbles appears against a black backdrop.
On the left is a transparent perfume bottle with a white spiral pattern and a white spiral ornament on top. On the right is a slender vessel with red and pink stripes and a blue rim.
Five vessels are shown: two perfume bottles, two goblets, and a vase. All are different heights and patterned with broad multicolored stripes.
Five glass vessels appear, each with a slightly varied pattern of black-and-white spirals. Each vessel has a narrow neck and a wide round body.
A transparent orb with interior and exterior layers of transparent glass is shown. Both layers are patterned with narrow concentric black stripes.
Five vessels of differing heights and shapes are patterned with white geometric and abstract shapes on a black background
A rectangular mixed-media artwork made out of wood, glass, and paint depicts a room with colorful geometric forms on the walls, floor, and ceiling
The Glassworks book cover features a blue, brown, and transparent glass orb that has many bubbles trapped inside the glass.
Artist Frederick Birkhill works on a glass orb at a workbench. His reflection appears in a mirror across the table.
Five glass goblets of different heights appear together. All have golden-colored cups and a tall, slender blue or maroon stem with a round foot.
A collection of transparent glass orbs and ornaments patterned with multicolored stripes are scattered on top of a white backdrop.
A white, oblong glass orb with brown marbling appears against a flat black background.
Three black glass vessels of similar heights appear together. Each has a narrow neck and a wide, round body patterned with multicolor abstract shapes.
An oblong orb with a dark brown interior surrounded by a layer of transparent glass bubbles appears against a black backdrop.
On the left is a transparent perfume bottle with a white spiral pattern and a white spiral ornament on top. On the right is a slender vessel with red and pink stripes and a blue rim.
Five vessels are shown: two perfume bottles, two goblets, and a vase. All are different heights and patterned with broad multicolored stripes.
Five glass vessels appear, each with a slightly varied pattern of black-and-white spirals. Each vessel has a narrow neck and a wide round body.
A transparent orb with interior and exterior layers of transparent glass is shown. Both layers are patterned with narrow concentric black stripes.
Five vessels of differing heights and shapes are patterned with white geometric and abstract shapes on a black background
A rectangular mixed-media artwork made out of wood, glass, and paint depicts a room with colorful geometric forms on the walls, floor, and ceiling

GLASSWORKS: The Art of Frederick Birkhill

$75.00

CONTRIBUTIONS BY: SAMANTHA DE TILLIO, DR. DEDO VON KERSSENBROCK-KROSIGK, AMY SCHWARTZ, STUART REID, AND DOREEN BALABANOFF
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: HENRY LEUTWYLER

Hardcover
11½ x 12 inches, 280 pages
192 color plates
ISBN: 978-1-7329864-0-4

$75 | £58 | €69

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Glass as an art form has an ancient tradition; the archaeological record suggests that artisans in Egypt and Mesopotamia were fabricating glass vessels and ornaments during the fourth millennium BCE. Its durable nature, range of colors, malleability, and most of all, its optical transparency are qualities that have made glass a premiere art medium. Over a lifetime, Frederick Birkhill has explored the unique qualities of glass and the numerous techniques and intricacies of working with it. The result of these decades of study is a body of work that is extraordinary in scope, technical expertise, and sheer virtuosity. The Artist Book Foundation is delighted to announce the upcoming publication of a new monograph honoring this gifted artist: Glassworks: The Art of Frederick Birkhill.

From his time in England at Burleighfield House, the studio of stained-glass artist Patrick Reyntiens, to his unprecedented visit to Lauscha, the village in East Germany famous for both its art and scientific glass production, and his subsequent career as an explorer, teacher, and master of the glass arts, Birkhill has devoted himself to furthering the appreciation of the medium and sharing his vast experience with colleagues, collectors, and students. His works appear in numerous museum collections, including those of The Corning Museum of Glass, the Museum of Arts and Design, the Mint Museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Smithsonian.

Complementing the scholarly contributions by authors with significant backgrounds in the glass arts, the book will feature in its extensive plate section the lavish photography of Henry Leutwyler, which offers readers an opportunity to examine the complex details and artistic mastery of Birkhill’s oeuvre. In addition, the monograph will offer a glossary of glass-art terms, a detailed chronology of the artist’s life, his extensive exhibition his-tory, and a list of the numerous awards he has received. For those who are passionate about the glass arts, this monograph will be a feast for the eyes.

Samantha De Tillio is an assistant curator at the Museum of Arts and Design. Dr. Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk is the director of Glasmuseum Hentrich, Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, in Düsseldorf, Germany. Amy Schwartz is the director of The Studio at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. Stuart Reid and Doreen Balabanoff are artists, architectural designers, and professors of environmental design at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada.