Extremely Large Work by Kent Forrest Ipsen - 1972

Recently I have been very fortunate to purchase several museum quality objects by Kent Ipsen from the collection of an artist who knew him and collected his work extensively in the 1970s.

This plaque or shallow bowl is the largest object of glass art in my collection. It is 18.5" at the widest part and is 4" deep and weighs over nine pounds. The biomorphic shape is composed of a reddish brown layer marvered through white glass, overall cased in clear. The swirls of color are almost hypnotic in effect, and the shiny surface picks up reflections of color from around the room where it is displayed. It is signed Kent F. Ipsen '72.

It bears mentioning that Ipsen was one of Harvey Littleton's students at University of Wisconsin in the early 1960s. This was the first college course in glass blowing. Ipsen debuted in the important 1970 exhibition, 'Objects USA,' with the work of other studio glass pioneers such as Marvin Lipofsky, Dale Chihuly, Fritz Dreisbach and Richard Marquis. He went on to be the director of the glass program at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Arts in Richmond, VA. His works are exhibited in venues including: the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Corning Museum of Glass and the Vatican Museum.