Waiting for the book after its presentation at Galerie Am Museum, Fraunenau, Germany, ‘Franz X. HÖLLER – GLAS/Glass - 1980-2017' for retrospective exhibit May 8 - July 15, 2017, it arrived today.
As always with books from Arnoldsche Art Publishers, a well-made book, it’s ultra aesthetic and a perfect fit for Höller’s work. Eva Schmitt explained in Franz X. Höller: Traces of Design how his sculpturing uses sawing and cutting, graphic techniques to engrave, score or scratch, and etch. No doubt these are monumental works, if not in size then surely in attitude and quality: with large gestures and an absence of decoration, Höller’s sculptures have clear shapes and his handling of the surface results in form and surface being one and the same.

Schmitt defines Höller’s working process in the chapter Early Works 1980-2000 illustrated with excellent, full-page photographs on his glass sculptures, drawings and details.

Peter Schmitt wrote the chapter Thoughts on the Works of Franz Xaver Höller, he explains how the artist’s career began at fourteen, as an apprentice glass cutter for blown glass where Höller acquired knowledge of glass history and techniques that gradually unleashed him to freely handle glass as material to be sculpted. By questioning techniques -how thick the wall of a glass object could be in order to be carved, or by using shards when the glass broke, and by examining its different properties -all this contributed to Höller’s sculptures that are honest and have images of amazing clarity. Photographs follow Höller’s work as it develops from 2000 through 2017, complete with details of scratches and related ideas. Finally, A letter to Höller by Anna Wheill and a well-written bio concludes this definitive book.

Franz X. HÖLLER – GLAS/Glass - 1980-2017 is a must-have for collectors and students alike, perfect as gift to glass lovers or just to bring home when visiting the exposition, for who want to understand how the power of ‘less is more’ is an essential quality.
Angela van der Burght