Bertil Vallien

Bertil Vallien was born in 1938 in Stockholm. He was trained as a ceramist at Konstfack in Stockholm and continued his education in Mexico and Los Angeles. His career as a radical ceramic artist began in New York. After returning to Sweden, Bertil Vallien lived and worked for more than half a century with his wife Ulrica Hydman Vallien in Åfors, in the heart of Swedish Glasriket, where he still resides today. Bertil Vallien has been associated with the Kosta Boda glassworks, which is also a partner of the exhibition, since the 1960s. Bertil Vallien is represented in many leading international museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the National Museum in Stockholm, and the Chicago Art Institute and the Neue Sammlung in Munich . He has received numerous prestigious prizes and awards, including the Swedish Academy Gold Medal and the Prince Eugen Medal. In the summer of 2021, Bertil Vallien presented a highly acclaimed exhibition in the park of the royal summer residence Solliden on the Swedish island of Öland.

What do you want to know about Bertil Vallien that you don’t already know?

King of glass. The forests of Småland might be regarded as his kingdom. But Bertil has a worldwide reputation; not least especially in America. Back in 1962 he was named as Young American of the Year in the crafts field by the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York. And he has since had a serious love affair with America for more than half a century. In 1983 his glass enjoyed an international breakthrough with an exhibition at the Heller Gallery, in New York and for a period of more than twenty years he has taught irregularly at the famous Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle. It is naturally in the USA that he has found his foremost collectors.

The path to the Glass Kingdom went via Konstfack - University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. While studying there in the late 1950s he worked as an intern with the noted glass designer Erik Höglund who was based at the glassworks in Boda and who also, with his colourful designs, played a leading role in Swedish design. Bertil wanted to emulate him and, following three years in the USA, he returned with his wife, Ulrica, to the forests of Småland. He joined the Åfors glassworks in 1963 on a contract that allowed him to spend half his time designing glass for Åfors and half working as a free artist. And he has never ceased to mix designing tableware and working on his own art glass. Bertil’s handcrafted wineglass Chateau, which he signed for in the 1970s, still has unmatched sales figures.

Bertil Vallien’s skill has given him a patent on certain glassmaking techniques while his loyalty to the manual glass industry has been whole-hearted. In the shadow of business failures and shutdowns he has always contributed new sales success. When, in the mid 1960s Bertil introduced sand-casting to the Åfors glassworks in his home village, he moved Swedish glass into unmapped terrain. He put crystal and traditional cut-glass, which had been crucial to glass production, aside because sand-casting offered more possibilities for the designer. Using wooden models he created a hollow in the sand which could then be filled with molten glass. When Bertil powders his sand moulds with various oxides he can give the glass a frosting of colour.

Over the years Bertil has frequently developed his relatively primitive casting technique, and he constantly stretches the limits of what can be achieved. With his now famous boats he has created sculptures that have regularly tested his assistants with tough assignments. One of the most demanding challenges was when he cast his so-called Million-dollar boat. He aimed to show this at SOFA in Chicago which is one of the world’s leading design fairs. To witness Bertil’s performance – for he is a formidable performer in front of an audience, sometimes with musical accompaniment – on that occasion was like watching a thriller on TV. His concentration, absolute precision, the glances that he exchanged with his two female assistants… An unforgettable operation.

Among his major discoveries (“My most important artistic assignment”) Bertil likes to name the altar screen that he created for Växjö Cathedral in 1999. This is a monumental work of light and darkness, more than four metres high and charged with innumerable glass objects taken from his childhood memories of Sunday school.

Those who are familiar with Bertil’s œuvre know that he constantly returns to three principal forms: the head, the boat and the monolith/staff. A fourth form might be the house or cottage. Early in his career there was also the horse which, nowadays, tends to turn up in his drawings and paintings. He often combines glass with metal and wood. A red thread and a letter of the alphabet that has strayed may appear. Everything becomes a sign, rigid spaces with sunken shards of life. The boat seems always to be there and to sail in shifting forms through his head.

Over the years Bertil Vallien has exhibited all over the globe. In 2012 he had the opportunity to present a major inventory of his sculptures when he was invited to exhibit at the Palazzo Cavallo Franchetti next to the Canal Grande in Venice, the very heart of glass art. Fifty years of production beneath the same roof, in front of a demanding public on the island of Murano. Director of the show was Adriano Berengo with his Berengo Studio on the island of Murano. Bertil had previously been able to visit the studio but on this occasion, in 2012, during the 13 Mostra Internazionale di Architettura, it was exam-time for the Swede from suburban Sollentuna in Sweden.The exhibition entitled Nine Rooms was a huge success and provided the ultimate proof of Bertil’s international status. A few months ago. before the Corona virus had paralyzed the world, Bertil flew to Florida where he was to receive two prestigious awards. Imagine Museum declared him Artist of the Future, while the Glass Art Society (GAS) gave him their Visionary Award – one of the foremost titles that a glass artist can get. (Staffan Bengtsson)

Bertil Vallien

1938 Born in Stockholm, Sweden

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

1963 - ongoing Independent artist

1963 - ongoing Freelance designer for Kosta Boda glassworks, Sweden

1961- 63 Studies in USA and Mexico

1961 University of Art and Design, Stockholm, Sweden

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Metropolitan Museum of art, NY, USA

Düsseldorf Museum of Fine Arts, Düsseldorf, Germany

HM de Young Museum, San Francisco, USA

Yokohama Art Museum. San Francisco, USA

Imagine Museum, FL, USA

The state Hermitage museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Museum of Arts and Design, NY, USA

The Art Institute, Chicago, USA

National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

VIDA Museum, Sweden, permanent wing

Everson Museum, NY, USA

Museum of Fine Art, Boston, USA

National Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan

Microsoft Art Collection, Seattle, Wa, USA

JB Speed Art Museum, Luisville, USA

The Prescott Collection at Pacific First Centre, Seattle, USA

Detroit Art Institute, Detroit Il, USA

Yokohama Art Museum, Yokohama, Japan

The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany

Neue Sammlung, Munich, Germany

Mint Museum of Art and Design, Charlotte, NC, USA

Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio, USA

Museo de Vidrio, Monterrey, Mexico

Musée des Art and Design, The Louvre, Paris, France

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada

Rockford Museum of Art, Rockford,IL, USA

Microsoft Art Collection, Seattle, USA

National Museum, Edinburgh, UK

Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI, USA

AWARDS (SELECTED)

Prince Eugen´s medal for outstanding achievement in art, conferred by the King of Sweden (1998)

Gold medal, Royal Academy of Science, Stockholm, Sweden (2005)

GAS Visionary Award (2020)

Honorary doctorate, Växjö University, Sweden (2002)

Artist of the future Award, Imagine Museum, FL, USA (2020)

Visionaries Award, Museum of Arts and Design, NY, USA (2001)

Medal for exhibition “Nine Rooms” at the 13th Biennale in Venice given by Instituto Veneto di Scienze ed Arti (2012)

Young American award, Museum of Arts and Design, NY, USA (1961)

Award in recognition of the promotion of Glass Art in the world, Museo del Vidrio Monterey, Mexico (2004)

The Libensky Award, Seattle, WA, USA (2008)

The Wilson Award, GAS, New Orleans, USA (2005)

Urban Glass Award for >>Outstanding Achievement in Glass<< NY, USA (1998)

Zweiter Coburger Glaspreis, Coburg, Germany (1985)

EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2022 No man´s land, Galerie Leu, Munich, Germany

2021 Aska och Diamanter, Galleri Leger, Malmö, Sweden

2021 New Horizon, Strandverket, Marstrand, Sweden

2021 Gatekeeper, Sollidens Slott (Solliden Palace), Öland, Sweden

2021 Clear Water, Kosta Art Gallery, Kosta, Sweden

2020 Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

2020 Bosjökloster, Sweden

2020 Ytspänning, Galleri Glas, Stockholm, Sweden

2020 Vida Museum, Öland, Sweden

2019 Habatat gallery, Detroit, USA

2019 Schantz Gallery, Stockbridge-MA, USA

2018 Leger Gallery, Malmö, Sweden

2017 Gallery Schantz, Stockbridge, MA, USA

2017 Art Miami, Schantz gallery, Miami FL, USA

2017 Spritmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden

2016 Hawk Gallery, Columbus. OH, USA.

2016 Galleri Thomassen, Göteborg, Sweden

2016 Millesgården, Stockholm, Glasstress, Sweden

2016 Edsvik Konsthall, Edsvik, Sweden

2016 SOFA, Navy pier Chicago IL- USA

2015 Galleri Berengo, Muranoi, Italien

2014 Palazzo Guinigi, Lucca, Italien

2013 Gallerie Azur, Spa, Belgien

2011 Marina Barovier Galleria, Venedig, Italien

2011 Hawk Galleries, Columbus, OH, USA

2009 Imago Gallery, Palm Springs. CA. USA

2008 Etienne gallery.Oisterwijk, The Netherlands

2007 Heller Gallery, NYC, USA

2007 Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Il, USA

2006 Prince Eugen´s Waldermarsudde, Stockholm, Sweden

2005 Landkrona Konsthall, Landskrona, Sweden

2005 Röhsska Museet, Gothenburg, Sweden

2004 Museo del Vidrio, Monterrey, Mexico

2003 Rockford Art Museum, IL, USA

2003 Glass Museum, International Centre for Contemporary Art, Tacoma, USA

2002 Cellier de Clairvaux, Dijon, France

2002 >>In Transit<< Gävle Museum

2002 Eremitaget, St. Petersburg, Ryssland

2002 The state Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

2002 Konstindustrimuseet, Oslo, Norway

2001 Riihiimäki Museum, Finland

2000 Traver gallery, Seattle, WA, USA

1999 Museum of Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland

1999 Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel

1998 Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA

1998 The Bullseye Gallery Portland, OR, USA

1998 Museum of History, Stockholm, Sweden

1997 Museum of Arts, Indianapolis, USA

1997 Museum of Arts and Design, NY, USA

1969 Palazzo Ducale, Venice, Italy

PERFORMANCE

2012,18,19, 20 Rain shower, Kosta glassworks, Sweden

2007 Diamonds and Ashes, Music: Tomidas, Midnight session at Åfors glass factory. Sweden.

2005 Fire and Ice at Museum of glass and contemporary art. Seattle/Tacoma, Music: DJ, Theresa Batty

1999 The Cross/Circle/Mummy, Music: Nisse Landgren, Johan Norberg

1998 Circle/Cross Music: Nisse Landgren, Johan Norberg

1998 Fire and Ice. Music: Lena Willemark

1997 Karlbunkel II, Music: Jonny Axelsson, percussion

1996 Karlbunkel I, Music: Jonny Axelsson, percussion

1996 Midnight sessions at Åfors glasbruk

Bertil Vallien Swedish, b. 1938

Bertil Vallien

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (SELECTION)

AWARDS (SELECTED)

EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

PERFORMANCE

Bertil Vallien

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