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The Art of Glass
Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art has published a fine book to accompany their new resplendent Glass Pavilion covering hundreds of the most important works in their glass collection. Glass artists, historians, and enthusiasts should flock to Toledo to view this important collection, but for those on a limited budget, the book will do just as well. Glass, as we all know, breaks. So it's always so surprising to me to see examples of early glass. The Toledo Museum has collected some very important works from early glass production in Egypt, Greece and the Mesopotamia through to present-day art glass. The Art of Glass starts with these early works presenting as much information as can be known about them. It's unfortunate that beyond a possible date, and possible origin, we will never know for certain how most of these works were produced, used, or how or why they survived, beyond statistical peculiarity. The Art of Glass, however, does its best to speculate on the number of different techniques possible for the object's production and use. As the book progresses through the ages into the Renaissance, more history becomes known not only about the objects themselves, but also with what is known of glass works such as the Murano glass producers. In the final chapters of the book the discussion shifts from production and usage to the history of individual production companies, who went where or studied under whom, and individual artists' successes, almost ignoring the actual examples themselves. I unfortunately have not yet had the pleasure of visiting the new Glass Pavilion. Although Architectural Review did give the Pavilion a glowing review, and I think it would be very interesting to view this stunning collection within it, the Pavilion itself sounds like it almost steals the show. Truly international in stature, the Pavilion itself wasn't even produced here in the States, much, since it was designed by the Japanese team of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA Limited, Tokyo), the glass panels of the Pavilion produced in Germany, and moulded in China. So in a way, the book is probably a welcome introduction to the collection away from the grandiose environment of its new home. Beginning the book is a history of the Museum, its Founders, and how the collection was amassed. It's an interesting read, if only slightly frustrating, when one begins to compare the ambitions of philanthropists and industrialists in the 1800s with those of today. One begins to wonder where the kind of people with passions for subjects, collecting, and establishing institutions have gone. Now, there are monied people here and there that make the appearance, but none seem to have the passion their great-great-grandfathers or -grandmothers once had -- unless viewed as personal investment. I'm amazed, for example, the the Pavilion itself hasn't been named after some corporation or other. Each artwork in The Art of Glass has an excellent color photograph with an extensive description of the object. The book thus reads like a detailed museum label for each work. This is not necessarily a bad thing for a book showcasing the works in a museum's collection. While I was expecting something more like a textbook covering the history of glass through the Museum's collection, one does get a sense as if one had just perused through the Museum's collection; and that is the function of a Museum to start with. Another welcome characteristic of The Art of Glass is the readability of the text. The description of each object doesn't necessarily assume a complete lack of knowledge about glass or history, but is still easy enough for even a glass-novice to understand. While there are some terms that a reader unfamiliar with glass production may stumble upon, there is a short glossary at the back of the book. What the book lacks is a brief history of glass production itself, notes on the process to make glass, or a comprehensive description of how early glass might have been made. Of course, in these days of online searching, one only has to consult Wikipedia or some other online source for most of this information. To be fair, such a chapter might have detracted from the goal of the book which is to be a short survey of a Museum's collection. A further unfortunate consequence of publishing a book such as The Art of Glass, is, of course, that it becomes obsolete as time passes and collections wax and wane. The Art of Glass is a fine snapshot of the Toledo Museum of Art's collection today, but in 20 years time, or less, (we hope) there may be even more fantastic examples to choose from. The Art of Glass is an interesting foray into a singular Museum's collection. It does a serviceable job of giving a historical view of glass as decorative and functional object. As glass-making has entered the world of studio art-glass, the Museum clearly lays out its continued dedication to collecting art-glass examples, and disseminating its mission to a larger audience. --Richard Donagrandi Richard Donagrandi is the executive producer of ArtScope.net, and an artist himself, living and working in Chicago.
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