Standing Arc

Harvey K. Littleton began his artistic career as a ceramicist, even receiving an M.F.A. in ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1951. However, while his work in ceramics predates his work in glass, Littleton had been fascinated by glass and its possibilities from an early age. Littleton's father was the director of research for Corning Glass Works and he grew up in the glassmaking town of Corning, New York. While working as a ceramics teacher at the University of Wisconsin in Madison during the 1950s Littleton began to at last experiment in glass and helped to reinvigorate the art glass movement. Littleton is now perhaps best known for his looping and twisting sculptures, composed of strands of various brilliant colors encased in thick layers of clear glass, like Standing Arc. The colors of these pieces appear to be simultaneously fluid and mathematically precise.