Article & photos by Damon Crain
Modernism Magazine
Volume 10, No. 3, Fall, 2007

Blenko is an ideal example of the boundless innovation of mid-20th century America and the purest expression of a uniquely American modernist glass art. The best of Blenko's work demonstrates a direct connection to the revolutionary principles of the time in both art and design, be it evidence of a Henry Moore and Russel Wright-like sensibility in the work of Blenko's first designer Winslow Anderson; the influence of Paul Klee or Le Corbusier in the work of Blenko's second designer, Wayne Husted; or the kinship of Blenko's third designer, Joel Myers, with Richard Diebenkorn's sense of color and Eero Saarinen's mod organic forms. Undoubtedly, this accounts for Blenko's appeal to collectors of all things modern.

The significance of Blenko's contributions to American design and studio glass, especially its core innovations of dramatically enlarged scale and bold solid colors, has remained largely unrecognized by museums, academics and texts. While experts have cited 1960s Pop Art as the precursor for the enlarged scale that is seen as an innovation brought to glass by of the Studio Glass movement, Blenko had been developing oversize pieces since at least 1954. In addition, Blenko pioneered a market for affordable modern art glass by putting pieces of exceptional design and quality within economic reach of the largest segment of the population - the bourgeoning middle class - helping to pave the way for the many independent glass studios that followed. The story of Blenko's ascent is the one of a company determined to reinvent itself in order to succeed during hard times and savvy enough to ride the wave of America 's post-war years.

Above: This Blenko Heavy Swedish Type vase #R497) in Sea Green with Crystal coil, is attributed to Carl Erickson. Designed c. 1940, it was shown in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1950 Exhibition "Twentieth Century Glass: American and European." 10"h. x 6.25d.

Only two years later, however, the economic crisis that sparked the Great Depression destroyed the market for stained glass, as construction of new buildings came grinding to a halt. Undaunted, Bill Blenko managed to persuade his reticent father to diversify and try producing tableware using the same material they had been using for sheet glass. Bill approached Carbone & Sons, a Boston retailer and importer of fine Italian and Swedish glassware, with an offer to supply them with a competitive domestically made product. This was a brash proposition; Blenko had never before made tableware.

Above: John Nickerson, Vase (#7220S) in Turquoise, designed in 1972. 12.5"h x 4"d. This vase presages Nickerson's independent Studio Glass work for which he has since acheived much fame. The vase began as a bottle form, and was then cut on a bias. Such cold work was uncommon for Blenko, beacuse of the added expense of production

The brothers Louis Miller and Axel Muller, who had been trained at the Kosta factory in Sweden where their father was a master glassblower, were swiftly hired by Blenko from the nearby Huntington Tumbler Co. The two most enduringly important regions of glass production in the 20th century were Italy and Scandinavia, both noted for their groundbreaking design sensibility and incomparably skilled craftsmanship; in America, they converged at Blenko.

Above: Wayne Husted, Vase (#5942L) in Persian, designed in 1959. 15.5"h x 3.75"d. Signed. Shown in the exhibition "Glass 1959" at the Corning Museum of Glass

A new Scandinavian influence came to Blenko in 1937, in the form of a new Swedish foreman, Carl Erickson, whose father and grandfather were master glassblowers at the Reijmyre factory in Sweden . After adding some noteworthy designs to Blenko's line, marketed as "Swedish Type," Erickson left in 1942 to start his own company, the highly regarded Erickson Glassworks. His departure highlighted Blenko's need for design direction, but the war years would put a hold on any new developments.

Above: Wayne Husted "Architectural Scale" three-part Epergne (#5832) in Charcoal, designed in 1958. 35"h x 11"d. Signed. The traditional epergne is a dining table centerpiece for presenting fruit, desserts or flowers. Husted's version, made of three individual pieces og glass nestled inside one another, exemplifies how he transformed well established objects into entirely new and sculptural forms.

An artist and designer, Anderson was deeply influenced by the abstract painter Hans Hoffman, and the art theory he espoused in his book "Search for the Real," as well as by Bauhaus philosophy and Scandinavian design. Anderson also had the distinct advantage of being steeped in the New York art scene while stationed in Queens during the war. His mixed media artwork was even exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim (then the Museum of Non-Objective Art ) in 1944 alongside that of distinguished artists such as Harry Bertoia and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Above: Joel Philip Myers, Decanter (#6732L) in Plum, designed in 1967. 29.5"h x 4.25"d.

Anderson's most profound contribution was to gently challenge the rational expectation that designs be primarily functional. He created forms so refined and refreshing that their function seemed to be no more than a fringe benefit to the object's sculptural qualities. In 1952, after aggressive attempts to lure him by both Steuben Glass and Raymond Loewy, Anderson left for Lenox China . His departure was a significant blow to Blenko; there was no doubt that the company's strong growth and success were largely due to his intuitive knowledge of glass and his exceptional designs.

Above: John Nickerson "Charisma" Specialty Line Vase (#7221X) in Crystal with Ruby, designed in 1972. 17.25"h x 3.75"d. "Charisma" was the first Specialty Line Blenko had attempted since 1961. With its Ruby garland color suspended in Crystal, the line refined a 19th-century American glass production technique from the mid-Atlantic region.

Not coincidentally, Anderson 's tenure also marked the beginning of the inclusion of Blenko pieces into a new type of museum show then proliferating around the country. These influential and popular juried exhibitions promoting modern design were organized by museums convinced of the need for arbiters of good taste for the masses at a time of unparalleled cultural development. Retailing then in the range of $3-$25 (about $25-130 in today's dollars) Blenko glass was luxury good for the middle-class and a prime candidate for these exhibitions. Blenko's products were included in the "etroit Institute of the Arts "An Exhibition for Modern Living" in 1949 and the Museum of Modern Art 's popular semi-annual "Good Design" shows from 1950 through 1954. Blenko's critical success is easy to explain: quite simply, no other American glass company was producing new, modern shapes in hand-blown glass at this time. Blenko had the market cornered.

In 1953, Wayne Husted, Blenko's bold new designer, also fresh from Alfred University , arrived with a single-minded fervor and vision. The door that Anderson had nudged open, Husted blew away entirely. For Husted, vessels were no more than a pretense for creating abstract, sculptural shapes. A 1958 New York Times article entitled "Glass Objects Reflect Trend to Art in Home Today" demonstrated the sculptural qualities of Husted's work by featuring his Blenko designs alongside Venini glass by Fulvio Bianconi.

Above: Joel Philip Myers, cone-footed vases, designed in 1970. From left to right: #7041 in Olive Green. 12.5"h; #7042 in Tangerine. 12.75"h; #7043S in Turquoise. 14"h; #7043L in Surf Green. 14.25"h.

Above: Hockaday Associates, blenko ad, 1961, incorporating Wayne Husted designs

Blenko's third designer, Joel Philip Myers, arrived in 1963. Myers's aesthetic was already quite sophisticated; he had worked with Donald Deskey in New York and Richard Kjaergaard, an influential ceramist, in Denmark . Myers was aware of the nascent Studio Glass movement and quickly set about learning glass blowing himself. Effectively maintaining an independent practice as a glass artist while at Blenko, Myers became an early and active participant in the Studio Glass movement. By his own account, allowed Myers to see the possibility of his own career as a studio glass artist while designing for the factory. "Blenko has permitted me complete creative freedom and has encouraged me to experiment," he said. "My experimental work contributes many ideas and directions for use in our regular line.There is no reason to think that working for industry compromises a craftsman's aesthetic values."

Above: Blenko ad designed by Joel Philip Myers, 1967showing Myers designs from that year

At Blenko, Myers clearly reveled in the 1960s psychedelic re-interpretation of the Art Nouveau aesthetic, with masterfully exaggerated organic vessel forms. "I permit the glass to sag, flop, flow, stop, start, stretch," he said. "I control and yet am being dictated to by the glass.." Myers introduced some of Blenko's best gaffers to the possibility of artistic creation and, as a result, a few, including Shorty Finley and Earl Carpenter, developed noteworthy renown in their own right. This immediate connection between Blenko and the Studio Glass movement only deepened during Myers' fruitful tenure.

Myers's later, very influential studio work belies an undeniable interest in color that was surely nurtured by his involvement with Blenko. In evaluating his contemporary work, critics regularly cite color as a primary concern, but ascribe this narrowly to an interest in artists such as Henri Matisse and Mark Rothko, as if unaware of his eight-year tenure at a glasshouse whose founding concern was color.

Myers began exhibiting his own glass while at Blenko, including at the Toledo Glass National II in 1968 alongside glass masters Fritz Dreisbach, Dominick Labino, Marvin Lipofsky and Richard Marquis and at the Smithsonian Institution's "Ceramic Arts USA" in 1966, an invitational exhibition featuring leading American artists, where he showed with Labino. Myers introduced Lipofsky to Blenko in 1968 and Dreisbach in 1976. (A sculpture that Lipofsky made at Blenko in 1968 is now in the collection of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.) Myers's inclusion in the seminal 1969 exhibition "Objects USA" is testament to the importance of Blenko not only to the Studio Glass movement but to the larger Craft Movement as well. Myers left Blenko to establish the glass department at Illinois State University and today ranks as one of the most recognized and exhibited glass artists in the world.

Blenko Catalog cover by Wayne Husted, 1955

Blenko appeared again at the Metropolitan Museum in the exhibition "Craftsmanship in America" in 1952, but perhaps the most significant exhibition to include Blenko at this time was the groundbreaking "Glass 1959," a juried international world-wide survey of the glass industry at the Corning Museum of Glass. Blenko's entry was an exceptional design: a cylindrical vase with u-cut top and weighted encased crystal base, designed expressly for the show by Wayne Husted. Its presence alongside the likes of internationally esteemed houses Salviati, Venini, Kosta and Orrefors lent Blenko important exposure and prestige. More recently, the Corning Museum included Blenko in a small but powerful survey exhibition entitled "Decades in Glass: the '50s."

Above: Wayne Husted "Accents,: designed in 1958, both in Tangerine. #5730L, 10"h, left, and #5730, 7.75"h, right.

Unbeknownst to Blenko, its fourth designer, John Nickerson, hired in 1971 and the first to arrive well versed in studio glass, heralded the impact of the emerging Studio Glass movement. Ironically, Nickerson's designs generally shunned the more flamboyant Studio Glass influence in favor of a simpler, more restrained aesthetic, with a renewed focus on the functional vessel form. No doubt this was in part due to the new president, William H. Blenko Jr., grandson of the founder who called for new priorities for a new time. He imposed a more commercial standard, with more conservative colors and simpler designs that could be executed efficiently with less handcraft skill. At the same time, work by Studio Glass artists and small companies inspired by or founded by Studio Glass artists, was becoming more mature and accessible. After only four years' tenure, Nickerson left Blenko to cultivate his own successful independent Studio Glass practice, participating in numerous exhibitions including the Corning Museum 's "New Glass '79."

Blenko's success stemmed from its progressive attitude, its fearless young designers and, of course, high quality, handmade glass never before seen in such large-scale, fantastical shapes or bold colors, of an importance not seen since Tiffany's domination of American Art Nouveau glass. In a 40 year period of fostering dramatic new aesthetic developments and pioneering design, Blenko built a market for and a national awareness of modern art glass: sculptures for the domestic environment.