STUDIO MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: INFLUENCE OF KEY FIGURES AND LEADING CENTERS ON THE WORLD GLASS ART

Abstract

The article reveals the activities of the key institutions and the most prominent figures in the glass art of the United States of America, contributed to the development and spread of the international glass studio movement worldwide. Particular attention is paid to the work of one of the most influential museum and research centers in the field of glass art research in the world – the Glass Museum in Corning, NY. Attention is also drawn to the work of the Glass Art Society, a public organization that brings together hundreds of artists, scientists, manufacturers and amateurs of art glass and pays considerable attention to the accumulation of informational resources. The work of the leading artists of the American art glass, pioneers of the world studio movement G. Littleton, M. Lipofsky, D. Chiguli, T. Patti, R. Marquis, T. Zinski and many others is analyzed. The stylistic and technological features of the artists individual compositions are indicated, and the basic typological characteristics of contemporary American art glass are determined on their basis. It is concluded that understanding of the concept of a studio glass from the beginnings of origin in the United States lies in the following planes: decorative, technological and experimental, conceptual and figurative. The activities of key centers, including museum, educational and industrial institutions, are outlined as well as their level of influence on the development of contemporary glass art is outlined. The description of one of the leading manufacturers of art glass in the USA, a company with centuries-old tradition of glass making Steuben Glass is show in the article. The influence for the international studio movement and development of the glass industry is made basing on the selected samples of the product range. The analysis of scientific sources is proposed and special attention is paid to their authors, who belong to the most prominent personalities of the world art history. The aim of the study is to highlight the activities of key educational, museum, production and organizational clusters, individual artists and scholars in the United States, which have contributed to the development of the international studio glass movement. Methodology of the research: methods of diachronic and synchronous description of artistic phenomena, method of formal analysis and synthesis, structural-functional and stylistically typological methods are used in the article. Relevance and scientific novelty. Ukrainian art studies considered the issue glass art mainly in the context of decorative and applied arts. With the advent of the concept of "fine glass" the question of a thorough rethinking of the terminological system and its introduction into scientific circulation raises. Actually the appeal to the original sources of the studio movement birth in the American art of the second half of the 20th century, as well as a thorough analysis of conceptual principles and a clear understanding of its functioning in the general context of world art will contribute to solving of this key problem. It is concluded that it was thanks to the American artists the international studio glass movement, the powerful artistic phenomena, began to spread in the world. The artistic centers and individual personalities of the United States continue to actively and successfully influence the overall development of contemporary world decorative and fine arts, glass art in particular.