Telefon (Telephone)

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Object Name: 
Sculpture
Title: 
Telefon (Telephone)
Accession Number: 
76.3.3
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 15 cm, W: 20.2 cm, D: 17.5 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
1971
Web Description: 
When talking about art, Eisch emphasizes the humanistic and intuitive nature of creation. “The reason for any kind of artistic activity is deep and chaotic: it is a force coming from the soul,” Eisch says. “There is no such thing as progress in the arts—it is based on individuality and uniqueness and rooted in the intuition, in the perceptive mind. We have to oppose a technologically perfect world with our imperfection. We have to try to bend the straight and expanding road of technological progress and make it round.” The gold telephone, misshapen and cartoonish, reflects Eisch’s sense of humor. Almost immediately, this sculpture became symbolic of the beliefs shared by many early studio glass artists. These included the notions that glass was a material capable of sculptural expression, that vessels could become separate from function, and that the relationship between craft and fine art should not be based on mutual exclusion, but on an open and ever-expanding dialogue.
Provenance: 
Littleton, Harvey K. (American, 1922-2013), Source
1976-02-16
Material: 
Inscription: 
E. Eisch/71
signature
engraved
Primary Description: 
Colorless glass with low fine gold lustre finish; mold blown, hot worked. Distorted telephone shape; ground base rim; scratch engraved on right side near base: "E Eisch/71".
Venue(s)
Corning Museum of Glass 2012-03-15 through 2013-02-03
Masters of Studio Glass: Erwin Eisch is a special exhibition of 22 vessels and sculptures by one of the founders of studio glass in Europe, Erwin Eisch (German, b. 1927). The exhibition recognizes Eisch for his achievements in developing glass as a material for artistic expression, and it celebrates the 50th anniversary of the birth of studio glass in the United States. Eisch, a close friend of American Studio Glass founder, Harvey K. Littleton (American, b. 1922), had a profound influence on the development of American, as well as European, studio glass. Objects in the exhibition span 40 years of Eisch’s career in glass from 1964 to 2004. His works are tradition-breaking, and his radical thoughts about art reflect the unorthodox approach to glass that has characterized his work throughout his career. All of the works presented are drawn from the Museum’s collection.
Venice and American Studio Glass (2020) illustrated, p. 21 (fig. 18);
Gene Koss: Sculpture (2019) illustrated, p. 89;
Glass: Virtual, Real (2016) illustrated, p. 85; BIB# 167899
Masters of Studio Glass: Erwin Eisch (2012) illustrated, p. 4; BIB# AI88415
Modern and contemporary art glass (2006) illustrated, slide 65; BIB# 130418
Plastik sanatlarda cam malzemenin uygulanisi (2003) illustrated, p. 84, fig. 3.55; BIB# 120381
Sources of Inspiration (1998) p. 48; BIB# AI41266
Erwin Eisch (1982-10) p. 22; BIB# AI6757
New glass: a worldwide survey (1982) illustrated, p. 10 (fig. 5); BIB# 73549
New Glass: A Worldwide Survey (1979) illustrated, p. 16, fig. 5; BIB# 20603