by Gene Ingalls
My role as curator of Fine Contemporary glass for The Gallery at Four India is a challenging and rewarding experience, but as a collector I am totally consumed. Collecting has been nothing short of a labor of love and has added joy beauty to my life.
Collecting for me and for so many others is a lifelong passion, it’s seeking out something that fascinates, stimulates your mind and senses and adds something special to your life.
Collecting fine contemporary glass for me began in the fall of 1998. Just by chance I was browsing in a gallery in Boston when I came upon a piece by Toland Sand. It was just so beautiful and fascinating and radiated so much color and beauty I had to have it. That piece changed my life.
Most collectors will tell you that collecting is an evolution, you find beautiful pieces and sell beautiful pieces. It takes years for tastes and likes and
dislikes to grow and mature and solidify.
Glass objects are not inanimate objects without life, they grab, they pull you in, they excite mind and visual and tactile senses. Not a day goes by I don’t see something unique or different in one of my pieces be it in it’s form, composition, technique or color, texture. Often you see a completely different interpretation of a piece simply from changing light.
The origin of today’s fine contemporary glass is attributed to Harvey K. Littleton often called the father of contemporary glass. To own one of his pieces (which unfortunately I don’t) would be amazing.
My advice to any collector is to collect and buy what you love, what’s beautiful to you, what moves you when building your collection.
One of the most amazing things I experience when looking a piece of glass, is that this amazing thing of beauty began as silica sand. Then, when combined with various materials, manipulated by various techniques, manipulated by unique talent and applied imagination, you have ever changing symphony continually producing spectacular results.
As I build the glass collection at The Gallery at Four India, I’ve been selecting unique pieces for an eclectic selection of the best artists working today in a broad range of techniques. Many of these artists are represented in my private collection such as Toland Sand, Petr Stacho, Jiri Karel, Tomas Brzon, Timothy Stover, Andrej Jackab, and many others.
The Gallery at Four India Street is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm.