CITY OF GLASS

Revel in Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano at the Carter.

BY STEVE CARTER

Clockwise from above left: Attributed to Compagnia di Venezia e Murano (CVM) manufacturer, Vase with Dolphins and Flowers, ca. 1880s—’90s, blown and applied hot-worked glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of John Gellatly; Arthur Beecher Carles (1882–1952), Venetian Gondolas, ca. 1909, oil on canvas. The Estate of Robert and Linda Wueste. Photograph by Susan Goines; Maurice Brazil Prendergast, Fiesta Grand Canal, Venice, ca. 1899, glass and ceramic mosaic tiles in plaster, Williams College Museum of Art. Bequest of Mrs. Charles Prendergast.

The word “Murano” is synonymous with exceptional fine art glassware, and the glassmaking Venetian island of Murano has enjoyed that world-class distinction since the Middle Ages. The colorful, beauteous lure of the glass has been a siren song for artists, tourists, and collectors from all over the world for centuries, a song that echoes even today. What’s often less appreciated, however, is that

Venetian glass, and Venice itself, have long been inspiring and influencing American artists of all stripes in their own practices, fueling countless creative crucibles. And that’s why the Amon Carter

Museum of American Art’s Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass:

American Artists and the Magic of Murano is a don’t-miss rara avis of an exhibition, a revelation and a timely reminder that the world’s artistic cultures are constantly evolving and cross-pollinating with infusions from other cultures. The show is on view from June 26 through

September 11, 2022.

The Carter is the second port of call for Sargent, Whistler, and

Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano; the exhibition originated at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and was organized by Alex Mann, SAAM’s curator of prints and drawings.

“Alex is an extraordinary curator who has studied decorative arts, which traditionally is not a specialty of the Carter’s,” says Maggie

Adler, the Carter’s Curator of Paintings, Sculpture, and Works on

Paper, and the curator of the Carter’s presentation. “But what’s great about this show is that while we would probably not do a show just of Venetian glass, we can do a show of Venetian glass that really speaks to the formation of American artists’ sensibilities.”

Attributed to Vittorio Zanetti, Fish and Eel Vase, ca. 1890, blown and applied hot-worked glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of John Gellatly.

Left: John Singer Sargent, The Sulphur Match, 1882, oil on canvas. The Collection of Marie and Hugh Halff. Right: Alice Pike Barney, James McNeill Whistler, 1898, pastel on paper mounted to paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney.

While John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) and James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) get top billing in the exhibition’s title, there are scores more late 19th-century American artists included, all of whom were captivated by Venice and Murano magic, each referencing the glass industry in their work: Winslow Homer, Louise Cox, Frank Duveneck, Ellen Day Hale, Maxfield Parrish, Maurice Prendergast, Louise Howland King Cox, Mabel Pugh, Bertha Evelyn Jaques, Robert Frederick Blum, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Moran, and the roll call goes on. Of the more than 140 pieces on view, about 80 are glass works—ornate, masterful hand-blown vessels, mosaic tiles, mosaic portraits, vases, beads, jewelry, cups, and urns, including many pieces from the fabled Seguso, Moretti, and Barovier glassmaking families. The non-glass works include paintings, prints, lace, watercolors, etchings, pastels, linoleum block prints, and beyond—it’s a veritable Carnevale di Venezia for the eyes. The show will be installed similarly to SAAM’s iteration, with the install highlighting the interaction of the works and the ideas exchanged and absorbed; it’s as if visitors will be watching and listening as a global conversation unfolds.

“There was a Venetian glass renaissance at the turn of the century, and these Murano makers were adapting,” Adler explains. “First of all, they were restoring San Marco, the main church of Venice, so there was a need for a lot of artisans to provide mosaics for that, and people were seeing, for the first time, ancient works that were inspiring them. It was really a time in which everybody understood Venice to be a cultural center.” Another key aspect of the exhibition is that many women artists are spotlighted, both the well-known and the less-remembered. “It’s great that there are works by women artists in the show, but there’s also the fact that the whole lacemaking industry and glassmaking industry did involve women workers,” Adler says. “I think Alex Mann has done a remarkable job crediting the makers of the glasswork rather than just saying, ‘Oh this is a Venetian goblet, and it’s by somebody and it’s not as important.’”

An added attraction that’s unique to the Carter presentation is the concurrent sister exhibition of renowned area glass artist Justin Ginsberg at work; Justin Ginsberg: Shaking the Shadow begins June 11 and continues through September 25. Ginsberg will be situated on the Carter’s lawn each weekend through the run, working at a portable kiln for an audience of passersby. “I wanted people to get a sense of how glass participates in contemporary life, because it could start to feel like it’s just something that happened in history,” Adler says. “Justin’s a very talented artist whose work looks nothing like Venetian glass, but I wanted people to have a participatory experience.” Ginsberg’s piece will be comprised of a myriad of pulled molten glass threads, each up to 30 feet long, and the constructed sculpture will be displayed, as it unfolds, in the museum’s main gallery.

“It will be sort of an isolated waterfall, or a rain shower,” Adler adds. “Each Monday, after he’s spent the weekend pulling this glass, he’ll install a little more of it, so you’ll be able to come back over time and see how it evolves. I like spectacle—you know me! It’s going to be really fun.” P

Above: Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of James McNeill Whistler, 1897, oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum. Gift of A. Augustus Healy. Below: James McNeill Whistler, The Doorway (First Venice Set), 1879—’80, etching, drypoint, and roulette on paper, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Conrad Collection. Opposite clockwise from above left: Maxfield Parrish, Venetian Lamplighters, 1922, oil on panel, National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI, and American Illustrators Gallery, New York, NY. © 2021 Maxfield Parrish Family, LLC/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; Irving Ramsey Wiles, John Gellatly, 1930—’32, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Gift of the artist; Frank Duveneck, Water Carriers, Venice, 1884, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Bequest of Reverend F. Ward Denys; Dott. Antonio Salviati & Co., manufacturer or Erede Dr. A. Salviati & Co., manufacturer, Portrait of Jane Lathrop Stanford, ca. 1902, glass mosaic tiles, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University. Gift of Erede Dr. A. Salviati & Co.