Howard Ben Tré (American, 1949-2020), Bearing Figure with Lekythos

1996-97, large commissioned outdoor sculpture, Grecian urn form with patinated bronze surround and central cast low expansion glass with interior gold leaf orb, appears unmarked.

Note: This lot is located off site - within fifteen minutes of the auction gallery. Preview appointments by request. Removal of this lot will require a professional crew hired at the buyers expense, and to be removed from the premises within 60 days of the close of the auction.

84 x 36 x 24 in.

The Contemporary Art Collection of Francine & Benson Pilloff, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Accompanied with a replacement value document signed by Howard Ben Tré; eight images from Ben Tré Studio showing the creation and multi-step process of this exact work; two typed and hand signed letters from Gay Ben Tré describing their excitement throughout the two years it took to create this sculpture; four photographs of the work installed; eight slides of the work installed; a copy of GLASS: The Urban Art Quarterly; and four pages of architectural details of the underground and transportation supports; and Howard Ben Tré, Recent Sculpture, soft book with inscription "For Francine & Benson, Love, Howard B-"

Illustrated, GLASS: The Urban Glass Art Quarterly, Summer 1999, p. 25

The Christian Science Monitor described Ben Tré's poured glass works as timeless, monumental and "hulking, architectural forms he creates...existed before the dawn of recorded history." His distinctive glass sculptures were pivotal in breaking the barrier of glass from craft to fine art.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Howard Ben Tré received his undergraduate degree from Portland State University, Oregon, and earned an MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1980. Since the late 1970s, when he first became interested in making cast-glass sculptures, Ben Tré won international recognition for his work.

Early in his career Ben Tré made objects that resembled turbine engines, radiators, and other items that alluded to the world of industry. His later work took on a columnar format and became larger in scale. An industrial ethos still clings to the work, but it frequently also refers to art of the past, including architectural elements borrowed from ancient temples or ziggurats. Almost from the beginning, Ben Tré rejected hand-blown glass, preferring to cast molten glass, using methods he learned in a metal-foundry class at Brooklyn Technical High School.

Weathered outdoor surface with hairline fissures to the glass (original to manufacture per the artist); overall good estate condition.

Note this lot will require the work of professionals hired at the buyers expense; this lot will need to be removed from the property (located within 15 minutes of the auction gallery) within 90 days of the sale, otherwise this lot will be deemed abandoned. Please contact the gallery for recommended vendors 919-644-1243.