Littleton, Harvey K., 1922-2013

Harvey Littleton was an American glass artist and educator, one of the founders of the studio glass movement; he is often referred to as the "Father of the Studio Glass Movement." Born in Corning, New York, he grew up in the shadow of Corning Glass Works, where his father headed Research and Development during the 1930s. Expected by his father to enter the field of physics, Littleton instead chose a career in art, gaining recognition first as a ceramist and later as a glassblower and sculptor in glass. In the latter capacity he was very influential, organizing the first glassblowing seminar aimed at the studio artist in 1962, on the grounds of the Toledo Museum of Art. Imbued with the prevailing view at the time that glassblowing could only be done on the factory floor, separated from the designer at his desk, Littleton aimed to put it within the reach of the individual studio artist.

Harvey K. Littleton, an artist who helped found the so-called studio glass movement in the United States, developing and teaching do-it-yourself techniques that freed glassblowing from the cumbersome protocols of factory production and made molten glass almost as easy to work with in the studio as wet clay, died on Dec. 13 in Spruce Pine, N.C. He was 91.