Bench for Claude Monod I
Artist: Howard Ben Tré (American, 1949-2020)
Date: 1992
Dimensions:
H: 17 1/2 in. (44.5 cm); W: 24 1/2 in. (62.2 cm); L: 48 1/8 in. (122.2 cm)
Medium: Patinated cast bronze and low expansion cast glass, gilding
Classification: Glass
Credit Line: Gift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society
Object number: 1992.18A-B
Label Text:The preeminent sculptor of monumental cast-glass forms in the United States, Howard Ben Tré was a student of Dale Chihuly in the late 1970s. Instead of adding color to his glass, Ben Tré takes advantage of the green tint produced by the iron content of the glass, thereby rejecting the inherent transparent, glossy quality of the material in favor of a more translucent aesthetic. He then juxtaposes patinated metals and metallic oxides against the cast glass.
Commissioned by the Toledo Museum of art and dedicated to the memory of Ben Tré’s friend glass artist Claude Monod (French, 1945–1990), who was killed in a hunting accident, this bench and Bench for Claude Monod II in Gallery 5 recall early olive presses. This is an allusion to Ben Tré’s fond memory of his first visit to Monod’s country home in France, which was well stocked with wines and olives. The forms also resemble millstones for grinding grain—a reference to Toledo’s Midwestern location.
Commissioned by the Toledo Museum of art and dedicated to the memory of Ben Tré’s friend glass artist Claude Monod (French, 1945–1990), who was killed in a hunting accident, this bench and Bench for Claude Monod II in Gallery 5 recall early olive presses. This is an allusion to Ben Tré’s fond memory of his first visit to Monod’s country home in France, which was well stocked with wines and olives. The forms also resemble millstones for grinding grain—a reference to Toledo’s Midwestern location.
Not on view
In Collection(s)