Confetti Chandelier

Artist Dale Chihuly (American, born 1941)

DateMarch 2000

Dimensions53 × 52 × 52 in. (134.6 × 132.1 × 132.1 cm)
Weight: 301 lbs.
Armature: 18 x 18 x 20 in.
Weight: 16 lbs.

MediumColored lead glass; blown, tooled, cut polished with steel armature

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Sara Jane DeHoff

Object number

2018.23

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Director’s Conference Room

DescriptionA medium-sized chandelier with organically shaped forms, composed over a metal armature. This work shows particularly well Chihuly's effusive love for color as it incorporates yellow, red, orange, green, purple, teal, dark blue, and colorless glass. While Chihuly's chandeliers follow a pattern with irregularly shaped individual pieces being assembled, this example has not only the broad range of color but more diversity within the shapes incorporated as well.

Label TextUniting color, light, form, and space to deliver uniquely immersive experiences, Dale Chihuly's chandeliers impress and mesmerize the viewer. Chihuly began designing his non-light-giving chandelier forms in 1992 after noticing a beautiful light fixture in a Barcelona restaurant: “When you sat down to eat you looked underneath it, and it acted as a centerpiece for the table. I loved this idea of hanging a chandelier at eye level. And it triggered something that said, I now can make a chandelier, because it doesn’t have to be functional.” Today, his chandelier forms are one of his most popular productions, hanging in museums, public buildings, and private residences all over the world. Chihuly explained their appeal this way: “If you take hundreds or thousands of blown pieces…, put them together, and then shoot light through them, now that’s going to be something to look at! When you hang it in space, it becomes mysterious, defying gravity, becoming something you have never seen before.”Comparative ReferencesSee also Donald Kuspit, 2014. Chihuly, Volume 1 (1968-1996) and Chihuly, Volume 2 (1997-2014).