Chihuly Lithograph

With his sculptural works that fuse naturalistic forms with vibrant colors, Dale Chihuly has established himself as one of the world’s preeminent contemporary makers of art glass. The Tacoma, Washington, native’s experimental techniques — manifest in large-scale glass sculptures, installations and environmental artworks alongside smaller table-top pieces — combine fine art, design, architecture and craft.

Chihuly’s inspired creative energy has brought glass blowing to a place at the forefront of the arts in the United States. His prolific body of work is coupled with a dedication to artistic instruction, education and community. Trained in interior design at the University of Washington, he pursued graduate work with Harvey Littleton, who built the first academic art glass program in the U.S. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After further studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, Chihuly was awarded a 1968 Fulbright Fellowship to study glass blowing at the Venini glass factory on the island of Murano in Venice, where he was first introduced to group collaboration in glass making. Not only has Chihuly been committed to his own improvement as an artist, but he has also devoted much of his career to sharing his knowledge. He returned to RISD as an instructor, and after working there for more than a decade and he cofounded the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State in 1971. An automobile accident in 1976 left Chihuly blind in one eye; a subsequent injury while bodysurfing weakened one shoulder, leaving him reliant on assistant glassblowers to execute his designs.

Chihuly’s skills and technical innovations have allowed him to make pieces in an astonishing array of patterns, textures and hues — yet his work can be recognized immediately. He has created several notable extended series of artworks. These include his “Seaforms,” which evoke shells, starfish and other marine animals; “Blankets,” which are composed of cylindrical units in patterns suggested by Native American textiles; and, most famously, his grand chandeliers made up of scores of curling, curving, pepper-shaped elements. Whether large or small, as you will see on 1stDibs, the works of Dale Chihuly blend practical flair and bravura artistry. They are a highlight of any contemporary art and design collection.

Decorating with fine art prints — whether they’re figurative prints, abstract prints or another variety — has always been a practical way of bringing a space to life as well as bringing works by an artist you love into your home.

Pursued in the 1960s and ’70s, largely by Pop artists drawn to its associations with mass production, advertising, packaging and seriality, as well as those challenging the primacy of the Abstract Expressionist brushstroke, printmaking was embraced in the 1980s by painters and conceptual artists ranging from David Salle and Elizabeth Murray to Adrian Piper and Sherrie Levine.

Printmaking is the transfer of an image from one surface to another. An artist takes a material like stone, metal, wood or wax, carves, incises, draws or otherwise marks it with an image, inks or paints it and then transfers the image to a piece of paper or other material.

Fine art prints are frequently confused with their more commercial counterparts. After all, our closest connection to the printed image is through mass-produced newspapers, magazines and books, and many people don’t realize that even though prints are editions, they start with an original image created by an artist with the intent of reproducing it in a small batch. Fine art prints are created in strictly limited editions — 20 or 30 or maybe 50 — and are always based on an image created specifically to be made into an edition.

Many people think of revered Dutch artist Rembrandt as a painter but may not know that he was a printmaker as well. His prints have been preserved in time along with the work of other celebrated printmakers such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol. These fine art prints are still highly sought after by collectors.

“It’s another tool in the artist’s toolbox, just like painting or sculpture or anything else that an artist uses in the service of mark making or expressing him- or herself,” says International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) vice president Betsy Senior, of New York’s Betsy Senior Fine Art, Inc.

Because artist’s editions tend to be more affordable and available than his or her unique works, they’re more accessible and can be a great opportunity to bring a variety of colors, textures and shapes into a space.

For tight corners, select small fine art prints as opposed to the oversized bold piece you’ll hang as a focal point in the dining area. But be careful not to choose something that is too big for your space. And feel free to lean into it if need be — not every work needs picture-hanging hooks. Leaning a larger fine art print against the wall behind a bookcase can add a stylish installation-type dynamic to your living room. (Read more about how to arrange wall art here.)

Find fine art prints for sale on 1stDibs today.