Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

Return of History, a Colourful Boat Glass Sculpture by Baldwin & Guggisberg

About the Item

'The Return of History' is a unique artwork by the American and Swiss artists, Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg. Combining Scandinavian and Venetian glass making techniques, their sculptural boat centrepieces are made from smaller blown and cut glass components nestled (in sand) inside a metallic hull. ''We are migratory creatures; the history of our species is about journeys, departures, leaving and arriving, starting over. And none more so than ourselves. Our new work is both culturally and personally inclined. An autobiographical touch in civilizational reflection. Wherever man goes he builds, laying down cultural lines which gradually transform into relics and artefacts over time''s inevitable march. Urban landscapes and complex designs grow and expand, deteriorate and decay. And on again we move, taking the memories of our exploits with us to use in the next story.'' B&G Baldwin (1947, New York) and Guggisberg (1955, Bern) have been a collaborative team for over forty years. They share an instinctive appreciation for the subtle blending of art and design, functionality and abstract expression, combined with a love of material – especially glass. The list of museums and collections which have acquired their works is long and impressive. Individual showings, as well as participation in group shows, have given them opportunities to present their works at leading galleries and in major museums in Europe, Japan and the United States and their works rank among the best to be found in the international glass art scene. Working freelance, they have also designed successful products for international glass manufacturers since 1985. Their clients have included renowned firms like Rosenthal, Steuben, Corning and Venini. Over time their work has developed its own distinctive signature, based in Italian cold-working (battuto) combined with the Swedish overlay process for layering colours. They have been pioneers in adapting these techniques and in creating a distinct expression of their own. Colour, light, texture, pattern, and shape together reveal an undercurrent of meaning and value, adhering to the simplest of forms and clear lines. Over the years they have become more sculptural in focus, while seeking to imbue their work with a deep connection to archetypal forms and shapes, and striving for the highest level of craftsmanship. They address eternal symbols of human culture and history, while embracing contemporary evolution in form and meaning. In recent years large installations and major exhibitions in public spaces, such as Canterbury Cathedral, UK in (2018) and more recently The Glasmuseum Ebeltoft in Denmark (2020-2021) increasingly reflect their concerns for the shared world of our times, highlighting some of the challenges while continuing to express their love for beauty in form and object. They now live and work in rural Wales. Public Collections Achilles Stiftung, Hamburg D • Alexander Tutsek Stiftung, München, D • American Craft Museum, New York, USA • Berner Design Stiftung, CH • Canterbury Cathedral, UK • Carnegie Museum of Art, Piitsburgh, USA • Castello Sforzesco, Milano, I • Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, USA • Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, USA • Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA • Die Neue Sammlung, München, D • Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, IL • Ernsting Stiftung Alter Hof, Coesfeld-Lette, D • Fond Cantonal de Beaux Arts, Lausanne, CH • Fond Cantonal de Décoration, Genève, CH • Gewerbemuseum Winterthur, CH • Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, DK • Glasmuseum Hentrich, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, D • Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, USA • Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, J • Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA • IMA, Indianapolis Museum of Art, USA • Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, D • Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile Alabama, USA • Mudac, Lausanne, CH • Musée Ariana, Genève, CH • Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris, F • MusVerre, Sars_Poteries, F • Museo del Vetro Murano, I • Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich, CH • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Berlin, D • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg D • Museum of Fine Arts Boston, USA • Palm Springs Art Museum, USA • Raccolta Arte Applicata Castello Sforzesco, Milano, I • Swiss National Collection of Applied Art, CH • The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, USA • VitroCentre, Romont, CH • Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, USA Awards 2018 The Architects Award, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales • 2017 Glass in Venice Price 2017 • 1999 “Grand Prix des arts Appliquées 1999”, de la Fondation Vaudoise pour la promotion et la création artistique, Lausanne • 1998 Federal Commission for Applied Art, Switzerland • 1997 Bavarian Stateprize, (Goldmedal), Munich, Germany • 1994 IKEA Foundation (Schweiz) • 1990 Prix « Jeunes Créateurs », de la Fondation Vaudoise pour la promotion et la création artistique, Lausanne • 1988 Commission for Applied Art, Canton of Bern • 1985 Departement of Agriculture, Industry and Trade, Canton of Vaud
More From This SellerView All
  • Catcher of the Skies, glass sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    By Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in London, GB
    'Catcher of the Skies' is a unique pink, orange and black hand-blown and cut glass artwork with steel hull by the American and Swiss artists, Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg. Combining Scandinavian and Venetian glass making techniques, their sculptural boat centerpieces are made from smaller blown and cut glass components nestled (in sand) inside a metallic hull. 'We are migratory creatures; the history of our species is about journeys, departures, leaving and arriving, starting over. And none more so than ourselves. Our new work is both culturally and personally inclined. An autobiographical touch in civilizational reflection. Wherever man goes he builds, laying down cultural lines which gradually transform into relics and artefacts over time's inevitable march. Urban landscapes and complex designs grow and expand, deteriorate and decay. And on again we move, taking the memories of our exploits with us to use in the next story.' B&G Baldwin (1947, New York) and Guggisberg (1955, Bern) have been a collaborative team for over forty years. They share an instinctive appreciation for the subtle blending of art and design, functionality and abstract expression, combined with a love of material – especially glass. The list of museums and collections which have acquired their works is long and impressive. Individual showings, as well as participation in group shows, have given them opportunities to present their works at leading galleries and in major museums in Europe, Japan and the United States and their works rank among the best to be found in the international glass art scene. Working freelance, they have also designed successful products for international glass manufacturers since 1985. Their clients have included renowned firms like Rosenthal, Steuben, Corning and Venini. Over time their work has developed its own distinctive signature, based in Italian cold-working (battuto) combined with the Swedish overlay process for layering colours. They have been pioneers in adapting these techniques and in creating a distinct expression of their own. Colour, light, texture, pattern, and shape together reveal an undercurrent of meaning and value, adhering to the simplest of forms and clear lines. Over the years they have become more sculptural in focus, while seeking to imbue their work with a deep connection to archetypal forms and shapes, and striving for the highest level of craftsmanship. They address eternal symbols of human culture and history, while embracing contemporary evolution in form and meaning. In recent years large installations and major exhibitions in public spaces, such as Canterbury Cathedral...
    Category

    2010s European Organic Modern Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Steel

  • The Cobalt Voyager, unique glass sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    By Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in London, GB
    'The Cobalt Voyager' is a unique intense electric blue and black hand-blown and cut glass artwork with steel hull by the American and Swiss artists, Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg. Combining Scandinavian and Venetian glass making techniques, their sculptural boat centerpieces are made from smaller blown and cut glass components nestled (in sand) inside a metallic hull. 'We are migratory creatures; the history of our species is about journeys, departures, leaving and arriving, starting over. And none more so than ourselves. Our new work is both culturally and personally inclined. An autobiographical touch in civilizational reflection. Wherever man goes he builds, laying down cultural lines which gradually transform into relics and artefacts over time's inevitable march. Urban landscapes and complex designs grow and expand, deteriorate and decay. And on again we move, taking the memories of our exploits with us to use in the next story.' B&G Baldwin (1947, New York) and Guggisberg (1955, Bern) have been a collaborative team for over forty years. They share an instinctive appreciation for the subtle blending of art and design, functionality and abstract expression, combined with a love of material – especially glass. The list of museums and collections which have acquired their works is long and impressive. Individual showings, as well as participation in group shows, have given them opportunities to present their works at leading galleries and in major museums in Europe, Japan and the United States and their works rank among the best to be found in the international glass art scene. Working freelance, they have also designed successful products for international glass manufacturers since 1985. Their clients have included renowned firms like Rosenthal, Steuben, Corning and Venini. Over time their work has developed its own distinctive signature, based in Italian cold-working (battuto) combined with the Swedish overlay process for layering colours. They have been pioneers in adapting these techniques and in creating a distinct expression of their own. Colour, light, texture, pattern, and shape together reveal an undercurrent of meaning and value, adhering to the simplest of forms and clear lines. Over the years they have become more sculptural in focus, while seeking to imbue their work with a deep connection to archetypal forms and shapes, and striving for the highest level of craftsmanship. They address eternal symbols of human culture and history, while embracing contemporary evolution in form and meaning. In recent years large installations and major exhibitions in public spaces, such as Canterbury Cathedral...
    Category

    2010s British Organic Modern Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Steel

  • Calibrated to Balance, hanging sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    By Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in London, GB
    'Calibrated to Balance' is a unique red, green, yellow, teal and amber hand-blown and cut glass hanging artwork with steel frame by the American and Swiss artists, Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg. Exquisitely handblown and cut to the highest quality and refinement, the elements have been composed and suspended on a steel frame ready for wall hanging. Increasingly the artists have become more sculptural in focus, while seeking to imbue their work with a deep connection to archetypal forms and shapes, and striving for the highest level of craftsmanship. They address eternal symbols of human culture and history, primarily through blown glass, but also using steel, and constructions in other materials. Baldwin (1947, New York) and Guggisberg (1955, Bern) have been a collaborative team for over forty years. They share an instinctive appreciation for the subtle blending of art and design, functionality and abstract expression, combined with a love of material – especially glass. The list of museums and collections which have acquired their works is long and impressive. Individual showings, as well as participation in group shows, have given them opportunities to present their works at leading galleries and in major museums in Europe, Japan and the United States and their works rank among the best to be found in the international glass art scene. Working freelance, they have also designed successful products for international glass manufacturers since 1985. Their clients have included renowned firms like Rosenthal, Steuben, Corning and Venini. Over time their work has developed its own distinctive signature, based in Italian cold-working (battuto) combined with the Swedish overlay process for layering colours. They have been pioneers in adapting these techniques and in creating a distinct expression of their own. Colour, light, texture, pattern, and shape together reveal an undercurrent of meaning and value, adhering to the simplest of forms and clear lines. Over the years they have become more sculptural in focus, while seeking to imbue their work with a deep connection to archetypal forms and shapes, and striving for the highest level of craftsmanship. They address eternal symbols of human culture and history, while embracing contemporary evolution in form and meaning. In recent years large installations and major exhibitions in public spaces, such as Canterbury Cathedral...
    Category

    2010s British Organic Modern Contemporary Art

    Materials

    Steel

  • Wind of Night, a Unique Black Glass Tree Sculpture by Remigijus Kriukas
    By Remigijus Kriukas
    Located in London, GB
    The Wind of Night, is a unique black glass stylized tree sculpture by the Lithuanian artist Remigijus Kriukas. Glass is blown and hot sculpted to create this substantial artwork, which is both striking and statuesque. In 1985 Remigijus Kriukas graduated from Lithuanian State Institute of Fine Arts, specializing in glass and started designing at JSC “Panevežio stiklas”, which he did so from 1993-2000. In 2000 he founded his own glass studio in Panevežys where he now creates all his artworks. Kriukas has exhibited extensively around Europe, Russia and the USA. He has taken part in many creative symposiums in various locations, including Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Estonia, Ukraine, Czechia, Hungary, Germany, Slovakia. Notable achievements being; Granted an Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Lithuanian Artists' Association awarded with a Gold Badge...
    Category

    2010s Lithuanian Organic Modern Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Art Glass, Blown Glass

  • Chiranthodendron, Botanical Abstract Sculpture in Glass by Michèle Oberdieck
    By Michele Oberdieck
    Located in London, GB
    'Chiranthodendron' is a unique glass artwork by the Canadian artist, Michèle Oberdieck. Michèle Oberdieck explores balance and asymmetry through c...
    Category

    2010s British Organic Modern Natural Specimens

    Materials

    Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Cut Glass

  • Tall Birds in Warm Grey & White, Pair of Art Glass Sculptures by Bruce Marks
    By Bruce Marks
    Located in London, GB
    Tall birds in warm grey & white are a unique pair of hand blown art glass sculptures by the South African artist Bruce Marks, who is based in the UK. The dims shown right are for th...
    Category

    2010s British Organic Modern Animal Sculptures

    Materials

    Blown Glass, Art Glass, Glass

You May Also Like
  • "Crosscut waves", studio glass sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    By Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in Aachen, DE
    "Crosscut waves", a studio glass sculpture by Monica Guggisberg and Philip Baldwin. A unique glass sculpture from the times when the two artists had their studio located in Nonfoux i...
    Category

    Late 20th Century Swiss Other Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Art Glass, Blown Glass

  • Venini Circo Di Lune Black Sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    By Venini, Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in Brooklyn, NY
    Venini Circo Di Lune sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin. Limited edition in 99 art-pieces for each color. Sculptures made up of spherical el...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Metal

  • Venini Circo Di Lune Multicolor Sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    By Venini, Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in Brooklyn, NY
    Venini Circo Di Lune sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin. Limited edition in 99 art-pieces for each color. Sculptures made up of spherical el...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Metal

  • Venini Circo Di Lune Red Sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    By Venini, Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in Brooklyn, NY
    Venini Circo Di Lune sculpture by Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin. Limited edition in 99 art-pieces for each color. Sculptures made up of spherical el...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Abstract Sculptures

    Materials

    Metal

  • Guggisberg Baldwin Nonfoux White and Grey Glass Bowl
    By Monica Guggisberg & Philip Baldwin
    Located in Brooklyn, NY
    Monica Guggisberg and Phillip Baldwin describe their Nonfoux collection like this: “In Nonfoux, in 1982, we started out heavily influenced by the Scandinavian tradition of glass and ...
    Category

    Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls

    Materials

    Glass

  • 2015 Italian Yellow Blue Brown Crystal Murano Glass Boat Modernist Art Sculpture
    By Luigi Moro, Vetrerie Riunite Colleoni
    Located in New York, NY
    A sailing boat, a modern Art sculpture in overlaid Murano glass, signed piece, blown by Luigi Moro, custom made at Vetrerie Riunite Colleoni on the Murano island, worked with the dif...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Italian Organic Modern Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass

Recently Viewed

View All