In recognition of her exceptional artistic achievements, German/Swedish artist Ann Wolff has been awarded the Prix Européen des Beaux Arts by the PRO EUROPA 2011 Foundation. A great achievement, which Glasmuseet marks with a presentation of some of her works deposited in the museum’s permanent collection.
The prize is awarded to outstanding individuals for their continuous contribution to European culture. Ann Wolff’s work is regarded as an enrichment in the world of plastic arts and shows perspectives that have been taken up and developed by numerous artists at international level. As one of the most important pioneers of the studio glass movement in the 1970s, she has contributed considerably not only to its growth but also to making the medium known outside Europe.
Ann Wolff has been working in glass since the mid-1960s, producing powerful and simultaneously delicate artworks – both figurative and abstract masterpieces in colour and transparency.
Ann Wolff had a tremendous start to her career as designer in the Swedish glass environment and her designs such as “Snowball” soon became known all over the world. In the 1970’s, she built up her own designs which emerged from ideas about women’s work in the home, husband, children, domestic issues etc. She left the glass industry in 1978 and threw herself into creating large sculptural works from cast glass and bronze as well as developing her painting on canvass and glass.
Over the years Glasmuseet Ebeltoft has worked closely with Ann Wolff. In 2005, the museum coordinated the large retrospective exhibition, Observations, which was initially shown in Ebeltoft and then toured to seven major, international museums over a 3-year period.
Ann Wolff was born in 1937, Lübeck, Germany. She lives and works in Gotland, Sweden, and Berlin, Germany. She studied visual communications at the School of Design in Ulm, Germany in 1959, and moved to Sweden in 1960. She is one of the most significant artists working in this medium. Her works can be found in significant museums and public collections worldwide. She has received a large number of awards and prizes.
