Ispirazione: James Mongrain

Ispirazione: James Mongrain in the George R. Stroemple Collection is the result of a four year collaboration between artist James Mongrain (American, born 1968) and collector George R. Stroemple that began back in 2012. Stroemple, an avid collector of nineteenth-century Venetian glass, challenged Mongrain to draw inspiration from the vintage pieces in his collection, giving the artist free reign to engage in a dialogue with any of the objects that sparked his interest. 

Mongrain, already a highly-skilled maker of goblets in the Venetian tradition, was inspired by the iconic pieces in the Stroemple collection which resonated with his deep understanding of the material and his own personal artistic style. The resulting work is large and powerful, fresh and new, and it showcases Mongrain’s incredible hot-sculpting technique, complemented by a delicacy of touch that captures the quintessential character of each mythical creature and historical form. The work is steeped in tradition, yet combines a new energy and vibrancy that makes a profound statement: the heritage of the past endures and can be effectively merged with the dynamism of the twenty-first century. [...]

Ispirazione: James Mongrain in the George R. Stroemple Collection includes over 130 unique artistic works and covers a series of four collections— the Adriatico series, as well as Atlantis, Poseidon, and Arcobaleno, complimented by more than 100 of the vintage Venetian pieces which inspired Mongrain's new and dynamic work. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Whether you go or no, the book, James Mongrain in the George R. Stroemple Collection: Reinterpreting Venetian Tradition, documents each of the James Mongrain commissions and also includes various examples of historic Venetian glass that inspired Mongrain in the making of these series.