Art Glass

Art glass primarily refers to glass works of a more decorative than functional intent that are created by individual glass artists and/or their few assistants using small-scale furnaces in glass studios.

While contemporary art glass is notable for the hand wrought aspect and individual creativity, vintage art glass, that made prior to the 1960s, can include factory-made glass artistry, produced by small teams of factory workers.

The modernistic movement in art also affected glass-making, with institutes like Corning in New York, the Bauhaus School in Germany, and the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague introducing glass-making courses with an emphasis on fine art training.

Murano in Italy, with its long tradition of experimentation in glass, remained in the forefront and is generally considered the birthplace of the modern art glass movement, having inspired artists from around the world.

American artists like Harvey Littleton, Dominic Labino, Marvin Lipofsky, Bill Boysen and Dale Chihuly created one-of-a-kind glass works using many different and novel techniques, and initiated glass programs at various US universities.

Some of the main art glass making methods include glass-blowing, casting and fusing glass, free form glass-making, lampworking glass and pattern-molding glass.