Home > Gifts > Unique Gifts for Her > Toikka Birds > Oiva Toikka: Glass and Design
  Oiva Toikka: Glass and Design “At Nuutajärvi, Toikka clearly presented both a commercially successful and stimulating counterbalance to the more popular vision of austere clarity and precision that was still a dominating force in Finnish design. The success of his highly idiosyncratic designs also provided a testament to a growing subconscious yearning for a more decorative alternative that could reflect something of the rich folk traditions of the past as well as acknowledging the modernist functionalist aesthetic of the Bauhaus.”
Unlike some of his well-known contemporaries, Oiva Toikka is an artist first and designer second. And Toikka’s artistic vision certainly differed from contemporaries Kaj Franck, Tapio Wirkkala and Timo Sarpaneva. Toikka’s vision was more earthy and playful, perhaps a combination of Baroque and Pop-Art. Toikka certainly expanded the definition of modern Finnish design.
This book provides a great deal of insight into the artist’s background and formative years. It is fascinating to learn that Toikka is more than a glass artist—he designed fabrics with Maija Isola at Marimekko, ceramics at Arabia with Birger Kaipiainen, even stage design and costumes for the Finnish opera. Most of us know him best however for his glass designs at Nuutajärvi glassworks, which is now part of iittala.
We learn about Toikka’s collaboration with master glassblowers at the factory. Together—and sometimes even by accident—they create new glassblowing techniques which led to ever more interesting artworks and products. Some of Toikka’s best known production series include the Birds by Toikka (in production since 1972), annual cubes (since 1977), Krouvi mugs, Dewdrop, Flora, Fauna and Peony tableware.
The book also includes dozens of large color pictures of amazing one-off glass art pieces exhibited worldwide. Sit and take in the photos of Toikka’s glass sculptures and paperweights. You will gain a new respect for the artist and probably a yearning to own an annual cube or two.
Author: Jack Dawson
181 pages
Hardcover
Text in English
8” x 12” (20.3 x 30.5 cm)
Over 150 photos and illustrations
Publisher: WSOY, Finland
|
Total:
