Pioneers in Glass
by Shawn WaggonerPhotography by R. Marquis“Richard Marquis, glassblower and collector
of beat-up, vintage objects, has had an extraor-
dinary influence on the development of contem-
porary studio glass in America and around the
world... His prolific body of astonishingly origi-
nal, challenging, and exquisitely executed work
illustrates his boundless range and exceptional
versatility as an artist.” – Tina Oldknow, former
Curator of Modern and Contemporary Glass at
The Corning Museum of Glass and author of the
book, Richard Marquis Objects.A
dmired for his sophisticated understanding of color and form as
much as for his humor and willingness to experiment, Richard
Marquis is the glass artist’s glass artist. Whenever his contempo-
raries speak of favorites, Marquis is consistently on the list, if not
at the top. As a glassblower, he has influenced an entire generation
of artists working in glass who aspire to both his technical mastery
and originality of voice.
Born a triple Virgo in Bumblebee, Arizona, the second of four
children to Chuck and Verna Marquis, Dick, as he is known to
all, moved to Berkeley, California, in 1963. Marquis entered the
University of California, Berkeley (UCB) to study architecture
but ended up studying ceramics with legends Peter Voulkos, Ron
Nagle, and Jim Melchert. In 1966, he transferred to the decorative
arts department and began studying glass with Marvin Lipofsky,
soon becoming his teaching assistant. Marquis was included in the
1966 first Toledo Glass National Exhibition.
Early success and recognition propelled Marquis’ career forward.
In 1967, he was awarded the Eisner Prize for Design and the Presi-
dent’s Undergraduate Fellowship from UCB, enabling him to build
his first glassblowing studio. Two years later the artist was awarded
a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and traveled to Italy to live in Venice
and work at Venini Fabbrica on Murano. The Italians introduced
Marquis to murrine making, and in turn he shared the labor-intensive
technique and his resulting glassworks with the world, effectively
blowing everyone’s mind.In 1974, Marquis received the first of his four National Endow-
ment for the Arts (NEA) Fellowships followed by three yearly grants
from the Australian Crafts Council, which allowed him to conduct
a series of workshops Down Under. As an artist in residence, he
built a glass shop at the Tasmanian School for Arts in 1976. Upon
his return to the United States, Marquis founded Marquis Deluxe
Studios in Berkeley with Jack Wax and Jody Fine, which lasted until- Two years later, he and friend Ro Purser established Noble
Effort Design on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, which morphed
into Marquis’ current studio where he has worked since 1987.
On his glass journey, Marquis has accumulated mass quantities
of awards and accolades that include but are not limited to a third
Fulbright Fellowship to produce work for an exhibition at Dowse
Art Museum, New Zealand (1988); the Distinguished Alumnus
Award from UC Berkeley (2000); the Libenský Award from Pil-
chuck Glass School (2004); and the Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Glass Art Society (2005), an honor he accepted to Bruce
Springsteen’s tune, “Glory Days.”
Marquis demonstrated and taught throughout the United States at
the University of Washington, Seattle, for a year; at smaller schools
such as Haystack School of Craft, where he developed his murrine
teapots in 1973; and at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), where he taught for six years while simultaneously operat-
ing his Berkeley studio. He freely shared the techniques he learned
on Murano, enabling American glass artists to expand their technical
vocabularies and redefine glass as an artistic medium.
Richard Marquis
Pioneering American Studio Glass through Italian Technique
Richard Marquis, American Acid Capsule with Small Container,
solid-worked glass, murrine, a canne and incalmo techniques,
2-3/4" x 4-1/2" x 2-3/4", 1969–70. Made at Venini Fabbrica, Mu-
rano, Italy. Collection of Pam Biallas.6 • Glass Art TM • May/June 2016 http://www.GlassArtMagazine.com