James Mongrain in the George R. Stroemple Collection: Reinterpreting Venetian Tradition

The Stroemple Collection boasts more than five hundred vintage Venetian vessels that illustrate the height of Venetian glassblowing during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 2012, George Stroemple commissioned James Mongrain―Dale Chihuly's current gaffer and an exceptional glass artist―to make a series of ten vessels to replicate major examples of vintage Venetian glass in the Stroemple Collection. The finished pieces exemplify Mongrain's extraordinary ability to re-create traditional Venetian mastery in glass.

Since then, the Stroemple Collection has commissioned Mongrain to make more series, all based on the historic works in the Stroemple Collection. For these, Mongrain uses traditional techniques and imagery to reimagine the Venetian style, working on a large scale to create monumental and sculptural pieces that reference tradition but are firmly within contemporary glassmaking. This book documents each of the James Mongrain commissions and will also include various examples of historic Venetian glass that inspired Mongrain in the making of these series.

Sheldon Barr is an expert on Venetian glass and has been a dealer and collector in the field since 1967. His books include Venetian Glass: Confections in Glass 1855–1914 and Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860–1917. Linda Tesner is director and curator of the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art at Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon.