ROMAN BLUE (2000), BY JON KUHN
ACQUIRED FROM JERALD MELBERG GALLERY, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, MAY 2000
GROUND, POLISHED, AND LAMINATED BOROSILICATE, LEAD-FLUORIDE, AND COLORED GLASS, 11" BY 5 1/2" BY 5 1/2", SIGNATURE ENGRAVED ON THE BASE BY THE ARTIST


For a long time, I have been fascinated by the incredible precision and beauty demonstrated in Jon Kuhn's constructed glass works. I've had one of Jon's well-known cubes (Winds So Blue) in my collection for a while now, so when I learned that a complete show of Jon's works were to be displayed at Jerald Melberg's Charleston gallery in May 2000, I made sure to attend the opening of the show. Of the twelve works in the show, this one immediately caught my eye.

The form of this work is a simple column. Within, there is a single core (see Winds So Blue for a complete description of how cores are made), suspended at a 45-degree angle and surrounded above and below by groups of four rectangular blocks of glass. These blocks of glass contain a new type of glass, made in Jon's studio, called lace glass, which you can see in detail in the second image. The lace glass is combined with a thin layer of translucent blue glass and gold leaf. The shape of this work reminded Jon of a Roman column, and the work contains a predominantly blue theme, hence the name Roman Blue.

I really love the elegant simplicity of this work... I am especially amazed at the technique used by Jon to suspend the core at a precise angle using six surrounding pieces of glass. The process used to do this is so precise that you almost cannot tell where one piece of glass ends and another begins. Amazing.

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