160: THOMAS STEARNS, La Sentinella di Venezia < Important Italian Glass: A Private Chicago Collection, 23 May 2018 < Auctions

Important Italian Glass: A Private Chicago Collection 23 May 2018

It seems to me that any artistic endeavor should move freely at will. This concept is not merely a fleeting notion, but reflects a continuum of self-purpose. Mediums become vehicles, and a variety of vehicles make for a variety of realms. Each conceives and brings about the existence of a not yet inhabited domain.

Thomas Stearns

Thomas Stearns: American Artist in Venice

Jim Oliveira

In recent years, much has been written about Thomas Stearns and his famous residency at Venini from 1960 to 1962. It is now a matter of record that his radically asymmetrical vessels drew violent public criticism from Venini’s venerable master blower, Arturo Biasutto, that the young master blower “Checco” Ongaro came to Stearns’ aid and worked furtively after-hours to produce a visionary group of experimental objects, that the best of these were ultimately exhibited at the Biennale of Venice and won the gold medal, and that this award was rescinded after the judges realized Stearns was an American.

This work is certainly the greatest work by Stearns ever to come to market and perhaps the most important piece of glass ever created at Venini.

Stearns’ creations at Venini, most of which are unique, all of which were made through great difficulty and with experimental techniques, have become objects of veneration for American artists and collectors, and rightfully so—not only are these rare, beautiful and interesting, they also reflect a pivotal moment in the history of art and design. And at the center of it all and as his final creations at Venini, we find La Sentinella di Venezia.

The Sentinel of Venice is a sculpture, not a vase, and an incredibly abstract and conceptual one at that. Today this might not seem particularly significant, but in 1962, the very year in which the American studio art glass movement began, the creation of this conceptual sculpture at Venini was a statement of almost reckless individuality, and at the same time a tribute to a thousand years of glassmaking in Venice as seen through the eyes of an American visionary artist.

By all accounts, Stearns’ time at Venini was difficult, emotionally traumatic, and artistically challenging. His initially maligned asymmetrical forms were in fact carefully considered sculptural objects—an ambitious blend of historical reference, late abstract expressionist vigor, pop-art, and direct personal narrative. The Capello del Doges are a fine example of this; more conceptual than biomorphic, a true departure from Murano’s unspoken naturalism, more radical, and coming from a place of creative enthusiasm and relative innocence, even naiveté. But this has always been the great strength of American art and artists: free to face the creative void unburdened by the demands of culture and history.

Originally conceived as a three element installation, only two of the Sentinels survive today (the third was destroyed in transport and exists only as a fragment). As the last works created by Stearns at Venini, the Sentinels are a final outpouring of admiration, fantasy, pain, love and veneration, and are therefore appropriately composed of all the elements and technique for which Murano’s craftsmen have become famous—complex glass canes, murrine, vivid opaque and smoky transparent colors, etching, carving and amazingly difficult hot-work manipulation.

To say that La Sentinella di Venezia is rare, or important, or a masterwork is far less than sufficient. This work is certainly the greatest work by Stearns ever to come to market and perhaps the most important piece of glass ever created at Venini. Beyond that, the Sentinel represents the most ambitious and pure type of artistic creation of which humans are capable. Stearns said it best himself:

“All my artistic endeavors have been based on responses, which is to say they are products of my experience and inner feelings. Implicit in this is the sense that any individual with an open receptive mind’s eye can move though any aesthetic media without a fear of artistic self-delusion. It seems to me that any artistic endeavor should move freely and at will. This concept is not merely a fleeting notion, but reflects a continuum of self-purpose. Mediums become vehicles, and a variety of vehicles make for a variety of realms. Each conceives and brings about the existence of a not yet inhabited domain.”

In his essay, The Facades of Venice: Recollections of my Residency in Venice, 1960-1962, Thomas Stearns' thoughtfully remembers his brief tenure at Venini. Originally published in the catalog for the seminal exhibition of Murano glass at the Muriel Karasik Gallery, The Venetians: Modern Glass 1919-1990, the text provides a rare glimpse into the life this celebrated master.

Read The Facades of Venice

Thomas Stearns 1936–2006

On November 1st, 1960, the young American artist Thomas Stearns arrived in Venice and began a tenure as guest designer at Venini, an appointment which would last until 1962. Working closely with Venini’s youngest Maestro, ‘Checco’ Ongaro, Stearns would design a number of highly refined and experimental glass vessels and objects; a group of these pieces would go on to win the coveted Gold Medal for Glass at the Venice Biennale of 1962, only to be rescinded after the judges realized that the designer was an American. Stearns’ odyssey at Venini is beautifully captured in his own essay, The Facades of Venice: Recollections of my Residence in Venice, written in 1989 and published in the catalog of Muriel Karasik’s seminal show, The Venetians, Modern Glass, 1919 – 1990.

Due to the fact that most of Stearns’ designs were produced in very limited numbers, today they are highly sought after by collectors. More importantly, these pieces exhibit an innovative sculptural integrity which perfectly expresses the spirit of the times in which they were made.

And while Stearns was not the first American to work at Venini, he was certainly the most influential. In fact, his time there changed the very dynamic between designer and craftsman, as his constant presence at the Venini furnace challenged age-old Muranese traditions and class distinctions. The next generation of American artists to study at Venini, including Dale Chihuly, Toots Zynsky, Richard Marquis and others, owe a debt of gratitude to the patient and intrepid Thomas Stearns.

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