Now On View: Works from the Collection of Carl and Stephanie Beling

Brit Micho, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

While curating one of our latest exhibitions which explores sand cast glass work from our collection – Ancient Methods, Modern Visions: Sand Cast Glass – my goal was to highlight the work of Carl Beling in juxtaposition with that of Bertil Vallien.

Although Carl Beling was a doctor by trade, he learned the art of Sand Casting glass from none other than Bertil Vallien, the artist who innovated and adapted this technique into the 20th century. Carl passed away unexpectedly in 1999 and therefore, not much was written about his practice. I was fortunate enough to speak with his wife and co-collector, Stephanie Beling, about his work. Over a few conversations relating to Carl and their life together, I wanted to further highlight the work from their collection that was donated to our collection in 2021.

Our museum was lucky to receive nearly 200 glass works by 76 contemporary studio glass artists. Of those works, 33 are on view throughout the glass wing and our main galleries including works by Bertil Vallien, Latchezar Boyadjiev, Harvey Littleton, Michael Pavlik, Preston Singletary, Debora Moore, and Robin Grebe.

I was delighted to hear that Sand casting was both Carl and Stephanie’s favorite form of glass work.  Sand casting is an ancient sculpting technique invented over 4,000 years ago in Egypt and Mesopotamia. To create sand cast glass, a mold is prepared using a large, flat bed of sand and powdered bentonite clay. An object is then pressed into the sand mixture and carefully removed, leaving an exact impression of its form. After the impression is prepared, molten glass is carefully ladled into the shape and left to slowly cool. Once cooled, the sculpture is dug out and cleaned off; however, the texture of the sand remains, indicating its unique path to creation.

Vallien taught Beling in the 1990s at Urban Glass, one of New York’s leading glass-blowing facilities. While he created boats and copper inclusions in relation to Vallien’s work, Beling’s architectural motifs were uniquely his own.

Despite his long career as a medical doctor, Beling always had an affinity for architecture, stating that in his next life, he would come back as an architect. He expressed this sentiment through his glass work, creating many architectural sculptures. Carl and Stephanie would often buy and renovate houses throughout the 70s-80s as Carl had a great eye for architecture. Stephanie recalled a comedic event while renovating a house where the construction crew did not show up to knock down a wall during renovation. Carl took it upon himself to go into the backyard and find a fallen birch tree, which he used to knock down the wall.

Beling’s work first came to the museum through a gift from the estate of Sylvia Fendel. His work was thereafter enhanced by Stephanie who included 66 works by by her husband within her gift to our collection, allowing us to discuss the unique nature of both artist and collector in one.

Carl and Stephanie would take trips to Sweden every year, which opened them up to the world of contemporary glass in the 1980s. Going around to the galleries, they soon got to know the gallery owners who slowly sparked their interest in collecting “unique pieces” by glass artists. At first, it was simply pieces that could fit into their luggage on the way home, but slowly transformed into larger works. 

Once back in the U.S., the Beling’s became more acquainted with galleries such as the Heller Gallery and Holsten Gallery (where Carl would later sell his work). From there, it was one connection after another, meeting gallery directors and other collectors, visiting home collections and galleries, both national and international, with their glass-collecting contemporaries.

The Beling’s favorite artists were Swedish artists (such as Kjell Engman, Jaromír Rybák, Ulrica Hydman Vallien, Anna Ehrner, Göran Wärff, and Sven Palmquist) and Czech artists (such as Gisela Šabóková, Pavel Hlava, Bretislav Novak Jr., Ilja Bílek, Jaromír Rybák, Milan Handl).

It was wonderful to connect with Stephanie and talk about her experiences with today’s glass artists and collectors. To see works from the Beling’s collection, please visit our Glass Wing, as well as Ancient Methods, Modern Visions: Sand Cast Glass which ends on May 18th!