Picturing Places and Spaces

Ribbons of black along the lip and foot frame a scene that fills the surface of this small vessel. Dark brown and reddish-brown forms in the lower half look like the rocks and hills of a landscape. Light green patches may refer to forested areas. The upper half can be read as blue sky with drifting clouds. The wall of the vessel is very thin, and light passes through to create a luminous sky. Most of Wallstab's works are abstract, but several like this one, create the impression of a landscape.

Kurt Wallstab was born in Neuhaus am Rennweg in Thuringia, Germany, and at age fourteen began an apprenticeship making glass instruments. In 1946, he received a master's certificate from the School for Glass Instrument Construction in Ilmenau. At age fifty, he turned his attention to creative glassmaking, and his first solo exhibition was in 1975. He experimented with glass montage and with surface coloring by creating his own mixtures of oxides and metal salts.