GAINESVILLE, FLA.- In a show of support for the 25th Anniversary of the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida, art collectors Relf and Mona Crissey made a gift of 62 superb works of American and French art glass to the Harn’s modern collection. Sixty of the works are by three leaders in American art glass: Louis Comfort Tiffany, Thomas G. Hawkes, and Frederick Carder of Steuben Glass. These are complemented by the art glass of French designers Émile Charles Martin Gallé and René Jules Lalique, who are each represented by one example. While this important gift encompasses a new area of growth for the modern collection, it complements and strengthens the Harn Museum’s representation of glass which is featured in the Asian and contemporary collections.

The variety of works donated includes lamps, vases, candlesticks and bowls from 1900 to the 1930s. Highlights include a rare Eighteen-Light Pond Lily Lamp and a Jack-in-the-Pulpit Vase which was one of the quintessential shapes in Tiffany’s oeuvre of blown glass. Both were inspired by forms found in nature and feature Tiffany’s trademarked Favrile iridescent art glass known for its subtle effects of shading and texture. The greatest period of glass artistry in the United States began in the 1890s and unfolded into the 1930s. “These gifts of American and French art glass, by some of the movement’s greatest pioneers, celebrate the beauty, variety and innovation of glass designs during this period,” said Dulce Román, Harn Curator of Modern Art. “The Crissey’s generous donation will allow the Harn to display works by the movement’s most original and visionary leaders for years to come.”

Relf and Mona Crissey of Winter Park, Florida have been collecting glass for more than forty years. “We made the decision to donate these works to the Harn because of the diverse nature of the museum for research, art appreciation, learning and enjoyment” said Relf Crissey. “Our hope would be to inspire all ages to enjoy our unique American heritage that can be found in glass.”

An initial selection of 30 works was recently installed in the Harn’s modern collection gallery where it forms a complement to paintings and prints depicting still life subjects.