The Gather - Corning Museum of Glass Members' Magazine (Fall ...

Photo by Robert Barker.
Corning Museum of Glass
One Museum Way
Corning, NY 14830
www.cmog.org
1.800.732.6845
Address Service Requested
The Corning Museum of Glass is located
in the Finger Lakes region of New York
State. The Museum is open daily from
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and until 8:00 p.m.
all summer long (Memorial Day weekend
through Labor Day).
F A V O R I T E T H I N G S
Diane Dolbashian Librarian, Rakow Research Library
Recently, research
librarian Gail
Bardhan surprised
me with a group of
original drawings
by Auguste Herbst,
a designer and
artistic director at
the glass firm
founded by Emile Gallé. The Herbst
drawings seemed to epitomize all that
I admire in the stylistic sensibilities
of Art Deco design—architectural,
faceted, geometric, and both luxurious
and functional in its simple elegance.
Above all, the drawings appealed to
my penchant for order.
The fact that relatively little is
known about Herbst’s life beyond his
association with Gallé only deepened
the mystery of the man and the allure
of these drawings as clues to who he
may have been. We immediately see
that Herbst was a proficient draftsman.
His technique was faultless, with each
line precisely envisioned and executed,
as in an architectural blueprint. Witness
An adult Day Pass to the Museum is $12.50
through December 31, 2009. Kids and Teens
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Museum Members always receive
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the drawing of a formal Art Deco
ceiling light fixture. Designed to cast
its glow upward, it resembles an
inverted skyscraper!
An even bigger surprise came
when Gail opened a second box of
drawings. In style and execution, these
contrasted sharply with the first set.
They appeared to be spontaneous
sketches, almost improvised, and yet
were also carefully framed allusions to
nature and classicism. The Art Deco
aesthetic was still clearly predominant.
However, the geometric rigor had
softened into fluid lines and organic
shapes, while the decorative elements,
so evocative of warm seas and marine
life, floated freely through the objects.
Here were two radically different
moods of the same man.
It is an extraordinary privilege to work
in the Rakow Library. I never know
when I may encounter an artist from
a century ago or have the chance to
admire an inextinguishable talent.
The day I saw the Herbst designs was
certainly one of those moments.
Cover image: Paperweight vase with applied
decoration,Tiffany Furnaces, about 1915. Rockwell
Museum of Western Art, bequeathed by
Frank and Mary Elizabeth Reifschlager.
Top: Design drawing for two urns, Auguste Herbst,
circa 1925.
Bottom: Design drawing for cut glass ceiling light
fixture, Auguste Herbst, circa 1925.
The photographs in this issue of The Gather
are by The Corning Museum of Glass
(Nicholas L. Williams and Andrew M. Fortune)
unless otherwise noted.