Ancient, contemporary glass shine at Vero Beach museum

Ancient meets modern when the Vero Beach Museum of Art unveils two concurrent glass exhibitions Oct. 11.

“Glass from the Ancient World” and “Contemporary Reflections: Glass from the Permanent Collection” will continue through Dec. 28 in the Holmes Gallery.

“We’ve never done an ancient glass exhibition before,” said Jennifer Bailey Forbes, the museum’s curator of collections and exhibitions. “We thought it would be interesting to pair objects from our growing contemporary collection with some that go back thousands of years.”

Seventy-five pieces of ancient glass will be displayed, from the Near East, Greece, Rome and Egypt. All but six are from the private collection of Vero Beach resident Richard Brockway. The rest are on loan from the Toledo Museum of Art, which is renowned for its glass collection. Most of them are utilitarian, such as flasks, pitchers, beakers, jars and cosmetic vessels. The earliest dates to 1500 B.C.

The 14 works from the permanent collection are strictly decorative. They include pieces by Harvey Littleton, known as the father of the American Studio Glass movement, and Dominick Labino, who pioneered the technology that allows artists to blow glass in a private studio.

“The exhibitions offer some fascinating similarities,” said Forbes. “Glass blowing started more than 2,000 years ago and continues to this day. Some classical forms and shapes have also carried over to the modern era.

“However, glass art stands on its own, in sharp contrast to the functional vessels and ritualistic objects that were characteristic of the ancient world.”