creation

Sybren Valkema

Sybren Valkema (1916–1996) was a Dutch glass artist. Following the example of Harvey Littleton in the United States, he built a small glass furnace in his studio to create studio glass. Traditionally, artists created the designs and glassblowers executed them. The introduction of small, portable melting furnaces allowed artists to experiment in their studios by working directly with glass.

He came into contact Andries Copier in 1943, who founded the Glass School at Leerdam Glass Factory in 1940 and asked Valkema to develop the curriculum. He taught general aesthetic education there until 1948, introducing students to form theory and art while also passing on his enthusiasm for glass.

During the World Crafts Council’s 1964 international conference in New York, Littleton demonstrated free-form glassmaking outside the conference centre using his portable gas kiln. Glass designers from all over the world watched his demonstrations with great enthusiasm, many picking up a blowpipe for the first time. It was here that Willem Heesen and Sybren Valkema met Littleton and were inspired by his working methods.

Valkema brought this knowledge back to the Netherlands. In 1965, he founded the glass department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, which became fully operational in 1969. It was the first of its kind in Europe and played a major role in the development of post-war studio glass. Many leading glass artists trained there.