Glass Art

Glass art evolved from techniques developed within the glassmaking industry and craftsmannship from the old art glass movement into the modern studio art glass movement.

Art glass techniques include Lampwork (using torch flame to work glass), glass bead making, casting and fusing glass, stained glass and, perhaps best known in the studio glass genre; hand glass blowing.

Forms in glass art range from stained glass panels and mosaics to vases, bowls and even intricate sculptures.

History of Art Glass

As both a functional and decorative craft, glassmaking was practiced in ancient Egypt and Assyria, and further developed by the Romans, who invented the glassmaking method of glass blowing.

Glassmaking further evolved in Europe, with the invention of stained glass techniques, which brought color and dazzling effects of light to cathedrals throughout Europe. Glass making was truly a craft that required many years for an apprentice glassmaker to acquire.

In Murano, Italy, the craft of hand blown glass art became the stuff of legend, with skills and techniques that have been passed down through the generations. And while Murano still turns out some of the finest blown glass creations, you will find these artists perfecting and advancing their art to new levels in Seattle, Washington, Asia and other places around the globe today.

Even as factories and continuous window glass manufacturing and mechanical bottle blowing evolved, at the turn of the 19th century the old glass art movement reached a peak, with artisans and craftsmen once employed in making functional glass products transitioned their skills and talent to making glass art instead.

The old traditions of the glassmaking industry gave way to new and innovative mechanical production methods used to create functional glassware, bottles and window glass, with large furnaces in factories that could produce tremendous amounts of glass products far more rapidly than earlier glassmaking shops.

A new form of glass art evolved, led by artisans and designers like Tiffany, Lalique, Daum, Gallé, who could employ teams of glassmaking experts to create glass art that was blow by hand or using molds. Working with metals, they began to achieve new colors, textures and forms not possible without the huge forges and technical prowess that the modern factories enabled.

The Studio Glass Movement

Originating in America in the early to mid 20th century, the studio glass movement quickly spread to Europe, the UK and Asia. These designers and artists freely shared ideas and new techniques, emphasizing the artist’s vision and talent in creating new and unique glass art.

The modern design movement impacted glass art as well, with new schools like Corning in New York and the Bauhaus School in Germany offering curriculums in glassmaking techniques and glass art.

The artistic glass windows designed by Frank Lloyd Wright further advanced the studio glass movement, with compositions found in painting infused into the glass media.

In the 1950s, modern studios working in ceramic, glass, metal and other mediums gained popularity in America.

This has diversified the artist community and bringing new techniques from the glass manufacturing industry into the studio movement.

Today, glass artists working in many different techniques have brought the art to even higher levels, from mold and hand blowing to glass etching, Lampwork glass beads, glass sculpture and stained glass.

New forms continue to evolve and a fusion of the many glass art techniques has taken place in the last half century.