Baldwin & Guggisberg
Wales
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.
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.
Exhibitions
2023 Amphore Métaphore Solo exhibition Artworks | Film
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
Artist portrait by Marco Kesseler.
2023 Amphore Métaphore Solo exhibition Artworks | Film
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
Artist portrait by Marco Kesseler.
