Richard Marquis
2009 Masters of the Medium Award
Richard Marquis is a glass artist, whose career has spanned the contemporary studio glass movement. His influence on the studio glass movement extends around the globe and across generations. His glass pieces have been seen in most of the major craft and class exhibitions and venues around the world and are included in the permanent collections of major museums. His work has a whimsy and spontaneity that belies the sophistication and depth of his artistry. As noted by Tina Oldnow,
“As an artist, Marquis is admired for his sophisticated understanding of color and form as much as for his humor and willingness to experiment. As a glassblower, he has influenced an entire generation of artists working in glass who aspire to his technical mastery and the originality of his voice.”
Marquis studied glass and ceramics at University of California Berkeley, receiving his B.A. in 1967 and a M.A. in 1972. Pivotal to his work was his 1969 Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship to Italy, where he worked at the Venini Fabbrica on the island of Murano in Venice. Marquis had been frustrated by the limited techniques used by American studio glass artists at that time. Murano glass workers were acknowledged as the best in the world. The influence of Italian glass is evident across the full body of his work as are the skills that he mastered. He was among the first American glass artists to adopt canework and murrine techiniques in his objects. He may be best known for his non-functional glass teapots, but that genre encompasses only a portion of his art.
A defining characteristic of Marquis has been his generosity in sharing his knowledge and techniques of studio glass, a practice he found was not common at Murano during his study there. From 1972 through 1983, he taught glass at UCLA. During this time, he made a number of trips to Australia and New Zealand, where he influenced a new generation and continent of glass artists. In 1988, he received a second Fulbright Fellowship to teach and present an exhibition at the Dowse Art Museum in New Zealand. It is particularly appropriate that he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Glass Art Society in 2005 during its conference in Adelaide, Australia. He has also taught and conducted workshops in Europe and across the U.S.
Other awards include National Endowment of the Arts grants and other fellowships to pursue further explorations and collaborations in studio glass. In 1995, Marquis was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Craft Council; in 2000, he received the outstanding achievement in glass award from the Glass Art Society; in 2004, he received the Libensky award from the Pilchuck Glass School; and in 2006, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Alliance of Contemporary Glass.