Transmitted Light

Reflected, refracted, and poured, light is at the core of our capacity to perceive color, form, and space. These evanescent elements, present in glass objects, beckoned American artists and other visitors to Venice from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries. Today, “Sargent, Whistler, and Venetian Glass: American Artists at the Magic of Murano,” on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, D.C., explores the rich legacy of Venetian glass as a source of intrigue and inspiration for two of America’s most distinguished artists of this period, along with their followers and patrons. Organized by Crawford Alexander Mann III, Curator of Prints and Drawings at SAAM, the exhibition presents new insights and unites artworks that reveal the historical significance and cultural impact of Venetian glass in the context of its revival during the Gilded Age.

Focusing on the years between 1865 and 1915, the exhibition features more than 140 objects that exemplify a transformation in the position of Venice as a pinnacle of glass innovation, accompanied