The normally reclusive artist stops at the Museum of Fine Arts to check out the great public response to his show of glassworks.
By LENNIE BENNETT
Published May 28, 2004
[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
With Cranberry Red Persian Wall behind him, glass artist Dale Chihuly takes in the popular exhibit of his work. Chihuly lost an eye to a car accident in 1976.
[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
Glass artist Dale Chihuly on Thursday mingles with museum guests, including ann Massari, left. Massari brough with her a pair of shoes that her grandchild painted, modeled after the artist's trademark paint-spattered shoes.
ST. PETERSBURG - Almost 150,000 visitors have streamed through the Museum of Fine Arts during the 19-week run of Dale Chihuly's spectacular glass sculptures and installations, which closes Sunday.
But the man behind it all, the artist himself, has not been one of them. Until Thursday.
Chihuly popped in to see the exhibition for the first time.
Instead of his trademark paint-spattered shoes, he wore a pair of plain black athletic ones.
"That's because these are new," he said, "and I haven't had a chance to paint in them."
The exhibition has broken attendance records for the museum, drawing more than twice the number of visitors it averages annually, said museum director John Schloder.
The visit by the reclusive artist, who sent a team from his Seattle studio to install the show in January, was hastily planned and done in secret.
Schloder did not inform the staff of the visit until Thursday afternoon.
Only trustees and collectors requested by Chihuly were invited to a private reception at 5:30 p.m. Chihuly spent Wednesday in Orlando visiting collectors and viewing the companion show of Chihuly glass at the Orlando Museum of Art.
"He'd heard so much good feedback about the show, I think he was curious," said Schloder.
Chihuly, 62, paid a surprise visit to the museum at about 1 p.m., but crowds recognized him and made viewing all but impossible, Schloder said. The reception gave him a better perspective on the installation.
"It's totally different from Orlando," he said. "The galleries are smaller. But this is beautiful."
Of the unexpectedly large turnout throughout its run, the artist said, "I was a little surprised. But I'm glad about it."
Chihuly is the most famous artist in an art form known as studio glass, a movement not much older than the artist. Like photography before it, studio glass has had to earn its place in the index of "serious" art that includes more venerable mediums such as painting and sculpture.
Chihuly, along with other studio glass artists, took glass blowing out of large foundries of mass production and into small studios where one-of-a-kind works could be wrought.
But more than any other early practitioner, he stretched the potential of glass, blowing it to enormous proportions, experimenting with colors and creating a truly original approach to techniques that are thousands of years old.
The flamboyance and large scale of Chihuly's designs probably account for his popularity. His work is familiar worldwide, from large installations in resorts such as the Bellagio in Las Vegas to museums such as the Victoria and Albert in London.
Schloder, who has organized Chihuly shows at three other museums, said he thought it would be a success but was not prepared for the crowds that began lining up on opening day. Weekdays often have drawn crowds of 1,000; weekends sometimes have been double that.
"I can't explain it except that I think people just really respond to it, its vibrance," he said.
Fans surrounded Chihuly at the reception, including collectors Glenn and Leah Berghoffen, who are commissioning a new Chihuly work for the house they're building in Crystal Beach.
"We had Lightning tickets," said Leah Berghoffen. "But I said there are other games and only one time Dale will be here. And I'm the big Lightning fan in the family."
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and his wife, Joyce, decided they could do both and left for the game after meeting the artist.
Chihuly entered the Persian Pergola, one of the most popular installations in which most visitors lie on the floor to get a better look at the hundreds of glass objects perched on the glass ceiling, downlit, casting colored light on the walls.
Looking around, he said, "I'd like to come back and do another show here in a few years."
Schloder smiled. His small staff of 16 has been strained by the crowds.
"It's been great that it has been here," he said. "But it'll be great to have a break."
"Chihuly Across Florida: Masterworks in Glass" is at the Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg, through Sunday. Hours today are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Last visitors are admitted 45 minutes before closing time. Admission is adults $12, seniors $10 and students $5. (727)896-2667.
