Art glass

Glass art consists of the creation of works of art made entirely or mainly in glass. Their size varies: from monumental works or artistic installations to hangings or windows, including workshop or factory works, including jewelry and cutlery.

Glass work, a technique that is both functional and decorative, has developed greatly over the years. The glassmaking industry experienced great expansion in Venice after the siege of Constantinople in 1204 and the arrival of oriental glassmakers. Due to numerous fires the glass industry is relegated to the island of Murano (Venice Lagoon), also known as Venetian glass, is the result of hundreds of years of refinement and innovation. Even today, Murano is considered the cradle of modern artistic glassmaking.

At the turn of the 19th century, as mechanical glass blowing was replacing workshop blowers, the movement for traditional glassmaking reached its peak. Tiffany, Lalique, Daum, Émile Gallé, the schools of Corning in upstate New York, and the Steuben Glass Works elevated glass arts to unprecedented levels.