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History
Art Knife Invitational
The inspiration for the Art Knife Invitational began with Phil Lobred in 1981 and, with help from Ted and Betty Dowell, progressed into the first show in May of 1983. The following is a copy of the introduction taken from that first show catalog of knives.
"Throughout history the world’s greatest bladesmiths have designed and built art knives and certainly knifemaking in America has seen many changes in the past 200 years, but never in history has there been a greater renaissance in knifemaking than in the last decade.
With advanced steels and an emphasis on workmanship, a handful of contemporary knifemakers create fascinating examples of this art form today. With the emphasis taken off the utility aspect of this most useful of all hand tools and placed on creativity and execution, “Art Knives” by important makers are rapidly gaining popularity as unique collectibles.
The 1983 Art Knife Invitational is an effort to place 16 such makers before a select group of collectors for the purpose of viewing and purchasing some of the most spectacular art knives being made in the world today."
-Phil Lobred
May 1983
It is obvious when you read that old introduction that the American art knife scene, even the term itself, was in its infancy. The term “Art Knife” was discussed and selected as the most descriptive. That is why it was put in quotation marks. There was really nothing else to call these fabulous new knife creations at that time. The term fit and it stuck. Two shows were produced, one in 1983 and one in 1984. Both were held at the MGM Grand Hotel, Reno.
While the shows in the eighties were very successful as measured by sales, they were very hard to produce and very expensive for the makers to fund and support. To make matters worse, the scarce attendance caused morale to ebb and we decided to not produce another AKI show until the art knife market had gained more credibility in the U.S.
It took another nine years until several makers got together in 1992 to begin a push for a third AKI show which came about in October of 1993. The show focused on makers whose work had proven collectible over the years and we encouraged an emphasis on art knives over utility knives, while allowing for the fact that art is in the eye of the beholder.
The nineties’ version of the Art Knife Invitational began with a few changes. It was decided that the show would be held every two years and that new makers would be selected by a majority vote of the members, making this show very unique. The only change in the structure of sales was the addition of the "open bid" knife. “Each maker has the option to place one knife on open bid with no reserve”.
We kicked off the new nineties’ show with Buster Warenski’s King Tut Dagger on the catalog cover. Now that’s an “Art Knife”!!
Every AKI show since 1983 has been very successful and all have contributed to the establishment of the "art knife" as a recognized, unique collectable. As we move into the new millennium we are limited only by our imagination as to the wonderful knives left to create.
As for the old pieces, if you say they were made in the late nineteen hundreds, they sound like antiques. I hear those antique knives are worth a fortune!
-Phil Lobred
January 2006
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