Record-Breaking Auction Result for The Glenturret ‘Eight Decades’ Decanter by James Turrell in Lalique crystal

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Glenturret, Scotland’s Oldest Working Distillery, has achieved a new auction record of an astonishing $200,000 for the artists’ proof decanter of “Eight Decades” – created by renowned artist James Turrell, in collaboration with Lalique. All proceeds from the sale of the decanter will be donated to the Roden Crater Foundation. The artist’s proof decanter was offered as part of Sotheby’s Whisky & Whiskey Auction, which took place in New York last Saturday, 9^th December.

James Turrell, renowned for his work with light and space, celebrated his 80^th birthday earlier this year. To mark this significant milestone and pay homage to generations of craftspeople, Turrell collaborated with The Glenturret and Lalique to design his first-ever whisky decanter – Eight Decades – limited to only 80 decanters worldwide. The unique design of the decanter, featuring a pared-down silhouette crowned by a pyramidal deep blue crystal stopper inspired by Ancient Egypt, resonated with whisky collectors and art enthusiasts alike during the auction. The lot included proof decanter #008, filled with a specially crafted whisky by The Glenturret’s Whisky Maker Bob Dalgarno, along with three hand-signed sketches by James Turrell from the decanter’s design phase. The winning bidder will also enjoy an exclusive visit to Lalique’s factory in Alsace and The Glenturret’s distillery in Crieff, culminating in a dining experience at the Michelin-starred The Glenturret Lalique restaurant.*

Following the auction, John Laurie, Managing Director at The Glenturret, said “What a way to end the year! When we first launched Eight Decades in May, we knew it was a very special decanter – working with James Turrell was truly an honour. We feel the decanter blurs the lines between art and whisky, and the auction result is testament to that. We’re particularly happy with the result as all proceeds are going to charity.”

A limited number of the original Eight Decades Decanter is available via The Glenturret website.

* For full Terms & Conditions, please refer to the Sotheby’s website.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About The Glenturret
Crafted at Scotland’s Oldest Working Distillery since 1763 entirely by hand in exclusive small batches, The Glenturret Single Malt is defined by its outstanding quality and exquisite taste. Located in the ‘Hosh’, Crieff, surrounded by the beautiful Perthshire countryside, The Glenturret offers daily distillery tours, whisky flights at the Lalique Bar, a dedicated retail store including an exclusive Lalique Boutique, and The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, the distillery’s Michelin Star unique dining experience.

www.theglenturret.com   @theglenturretwhisky

About Lalique

Founded in 1888 by renowned and avant-garde artist René Lalique, Lalique is one of the crown jewels of France’s crystal glass houses. Lalique is a symbol of unique know-how and craftmanship, a lifestyle luxury brand with an immediately recognisable style. Lalique enriches our everyday lives, bringing artistic style to singular creations in six areas: decorative items, interior design, perfumes, jewellery, works of art and hospitality. The brand enters exclusive collaborations with talented artists, designers and other luxury brands, to create stunning objects and collections based on both partners’ know-how and expertise. Since 1922, all pieces are handcrafted in the house’s sole manufacturing site, located in the Alsace region in France.

@Lalique / lalique.com

About James Turrell

b. 1943, Los Angeles, CA
Studio: Flagstaff, AZ

Graduated Pasadena High School, 1961.  BA Psychology, Pomona College, 1965.  Art Graduate Studies, University of California, Irvine, 1965-1966.  MA Art, Claremont Graduate School, 1973.
Beginning his art career in the 1960’s, James Turrell’s work is primarily an exploration of light and space.  By making light the subject of the revelation, Turrell’s work challenges the very nature of how and what is perceived and, in particular, how what is perceived affects and forms the reality lived.  One part meditative and another confounding, Turrell’s works heighten the viewer’s very sense of seeing and places the viewer in a realm of experience.

Residing in Flagstaff, Turrell is working on Roden Crater, an artwork of unprecedented scale within a volcanic cinder cone in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona. Representing the culmination of the artist’s lifelong research in the field of human visual and psychological perception, Roden Crater is Turrell’s magnum opus.  It is a work that, in addition to being a monument to land art, functions as a naked eye observatory of celestial and planetary events.

Turrell’s work has been exhibited in art institutions across the world, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; MASS MoCA in North Adams; the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; the Israel Museum in Jerusalem; the Kunstmuseum in Wolfsburg; the National Gallery of Art in Canberra; and the Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima Island.

Turrell is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1984) and the National Medal of Arts (2013).

SOURCE Lalique