Biography
Born in 1959, Fabienne Picaud belongs to the Studio Glass movement, a generation of artists creating works in independent workshops, using glass as a medium of artistic expression. The 1970s-1990s marked a period that valued the individual, originality, and conceptual approaches. The use of color and metal by Calder and Miró influenced her methods, sculptures, and forms.
My journey began in 1979 in Sars-Poteries, a hub of the contemporary glass revival, and I continued working alongside Joël Linard. Véronique Monod guided me, and Jean-Pierre Umbdenstock introduced me to the Morin kiln, enabling me to set up a workshop in Sicily. I received a grant to further my training. I went to England in 1981 to study at Dudley College and then at Stourbridge Art College, under the direction of Keith Cummings until 1983, where I discovered the artistic potential of this material. In London, I assisted Peter Keene in the production of his creations made for the avant-garde One Off gallery of Ron Arad and Caroline Thormann (1983-1987, the Arial Light, Concrete Stereo, the Musical Staircase).
Back in France,I ran the glassblowing workshop for the City of Paris(1987-1991) occasionally taught courses at CERFAV, and workshops at the Museum-Workshop (Sars-Poteries), at the Fundacion Centro National del Vidrio (Segovia), and at Urban Glass (New York) (1991-2009). In 1991, I set up my workshop in Paris before moving to Clamecy, Burgundy, in 2009. I developed my personal vision of the constraints of blown glass molding. I reintroduced the practice of silvering in three dimensions and electrolysis fixed onto glass.
Selected Exhibitions
2025: Salon International de la Perle et de la sculpture, Sars-Poteries
Presentation of the Friendship Bench and Flowers seeds Friendship inside the MusVerre
2024: Glass Garden, François Décorchemont Glass Museum, Conches-en-Ouche
2023: Feminine Perspectives, Senate Orangery, Paris
2022: USTV1, exhibition for the Year of Glass, Institute of Earth Physics, Paris
2020: Fabienne Picaud, Bertrand Hassoun Gallery, Besançon
2019: Glass as an Expression of Art, Mining Museum, Faymoreau
Cap Plérin, Etienne Huck Gallery, Port du Légué
2018: Gallery 89, Seoul Craft Week, Seoul
2016: The Power of Flowers, Museum of Romantic Life, Paris
2014: Transparency and Transcendence, Caron Bedout Gallery, Villeneuve-sur-Yonne
2013: Museum of Art and History, Colombes – Gallery 89, Korean International Art Fair, Seoul
2011: Fabienne Picaud, Gérard Delafosse, Glass Museum, Conches-en-Ouche
2009: Roselyne Blanc-Bessiere, Fabienne Picaud, Etienne Huck Gallery, Port du Légué
2001-2010: SOFA Chicago and New York presented by Mostly Glass Gallery, New Jersey
2005: Glass as an Expression of Art, Mining Museum, Faymoreau
2004: The Power of Glass, Museum of Tools and Workers’ Thought, Troyes
2001: Feminine Glass, Marino-Marina Barovier Gallery, Venice – Transparency: Glass in Contemporary French and Slovak Art, Château de La Roche-Guyon, Museum Bratislava
1998: Venice Biennale, Centro Studio Vetro, Murano
1995: Glass in All Its Forms, Mécénart, wineries and châteaux of the Bordeaux region
Orders and Acquisitions 2025:
2025: Creation of the Friendship Bench and the « Let’s Sow Friendship » Flowers, with the schools of Sars-Poteries
2018: Acquisition « The Bench of Dreams » Alizay Town Hall (near Rouen).
2017: Publication of « The Garden of Delights », Corning Glass Review 381.
2015: Acquisition of « The Living Shy Trees », Shanghai LIULI Museum.
2007: Acquisition « Constraints » Alizay Town Hall (near Rouen).
2001: Creation of 6 totems for the Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital
First Prize at the Saint-Étienne International Art Objects Encounters.
1999: Creation of the Puzzle Panel for ONG Medecins du Monde
1991-1993: Purchases and orders for the Élysée Palace Protocol Office; presidential gifts to heads of state: Francophonie Summit
1991: Film by Alain Cavalier from the series *Portraits of Women* for Arte.