Asheville’s Biltmore House doesn’t need any help to be considered a work of art. Designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt, who also worked on New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, the National Historic Landmark is a gorgeous riot of turrets, windows, and carved façades.
From May 17 through October 7, however, visitors to America’s largest home will see the proverbial lily in full gilt. Chihuly at Biltmore, the first outdoor art exhibit on Biltmore grounds, juxtaposes the estate’s mansion and gardens with the monumental glass sculpture of Seattle-based artist Dale Chihuly.
“[Biltmore founder George] Vanderbilt was instrumental in bringing art to Asheville, both with his collection inside the house and through Biltmore Industries,” says Travis Tatham, director of entertainment and event programming at The Biltmore Company. “Chihuly coming as our first outdoor exhibition really made sense for us in terms of what we could offer to our guests.”
Although Chihuly has presented his work outdoors around the world since 2001, the artist designed the Biltmore display from the ground up. Starting with an initial site visit several years ago, he and his team considered the estate’s possibilities for displaying sculpture, especially the potential for conversation with the gardens of landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted.
The results join newly blown, never-before-seen Chihuly glass with new assemblages of existing sculpture. “From his early education on, Dale has always been interested in architecture,” explains Britt Cornett, director of exhibitions for Chihuly Studio. “Biltmore gives him a unique opportunity to place artwork against this iconic building and its grounds.”
Chihuly also had the chance to design with lighting in mind — on Thursday through Sunday evenings, the daytime exhibit transitions into Chihuly Nights at Biltmore. A wine bar and live music in the gardens combine with carefully arrayed illumination to create what Tatham calls a “wow memory” for Biltmore guests.
“The dramatic nighttime lighting on the luminous colors and graceful forms of these spectacular pieces really transforms the effect,” Tatham says. “When you set that against the backdrop that we offer — the Blue Ridge Mountains, the settings in the garden and in front of the house where we’ve selected to place the pieces — it’s going to be spectacular.”
Chihuly at Biltmore runs May 17 through October 7 and requires daytime admission to the museum. Chihuly Nights happens Thursdays through Sundays by reservation and special nighttime admission. See biltmore.com for details.