OPPOSITE PAGE Salvador Dali’s Les Montres Molle for Daum, based on his signature ‘soft’ or melting clock, is inimitable
The Rose Passion magnum vases draw on the beauty of nature
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n 1968, a group of French artists rediscovered a 3,500-year-old Egyptian art technique. It was the ‘lost wax’ casting method for making glass art, using a paste of ground glass. Today, almost 50 years after its artists’ rediscovery and adaptation of the method, the Daum company has built an impressive portfolio of art pieces created using pâte de cristal — literally, paste of crystal. With this technique, a hollow mould is created using the ‘lost wax’ method, and then filled with crystal fragments (known as groisil) of different colours and sizes. After being fired in a kiln for 10 days, the fragments melt and flow into the crevices of the mould, blending and merging freely. In the process, small air bubbles are entrapped in the crystal, producing what the company calls a ‘champagne effect’. Compared to pieces formed by traditional crystal blowing methods, pâte-de-cristal creations capture subtle variations in light, have more precise contours and are able to show off a richer palette of colours.
The success of Daum, formed in 1893, shows the popularity of the technique, which is further enhanced by creativity and the choice of subjects. The company has a three- pronged approach to conceptualising its growing collections. One is to create crystal versions of existing sculptures or paintings. Daum’s art director, Mauricio Clavero Kozlowski, selects the art pieces and the company’s studio transforms them into crystal works.
DAUM HAS WORKED WITH SOME 350 ARTISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, INCLUDING SURREALIST ARTIST SALVADOR DALI AND CUBIST PIONEER GEORGES BRAQUE
Since the 1960s, when the ‘lost wax’ and pâte de cristal techniques were first employed, Daum has worked with some 350 artists from all over the world. The list includes Surrealist artist Salvador Dali, who produced 21 pieces for Daum based on his works, such as The Persistence of Memory painting, and Cubist pioneer Georges Braque (posthumously, through his beneficiary Armand Israël). There are also more recent adaptations. The Soul of Venus limited collection, for example, celebrates New Realist artist Arman’s reinterpretation of antique Greek sculptures. It reconstructs his slatted Venus sculpture by using alternate strips of blue crystal and bronze, with a gap in between each strip.
Another approach involves collaboration with artists. >> JETGALA 33
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