International Studio Glass
Erwin Eisch (German, born 1927), Helmut Kohl: Break through the Wall. Glass, mold-blown, tooled, blown; painted with unfired enamels, 1998 (design of mold 1989). Study Gallery
Though American glass artists initially struggled to distance their art from commercial or industrial glass craft, many other countries—including Germany, England, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), and Sweden—have had a long and committed interest in glass as art. Because of this history of respect, international glass artists are trained alongside fellow artists who choose more traditionally accepted art media (paint on canvas, metal, or stone, for example). Though Japan has not had the same history with glass art as some European nations, Japanese glassmakers have emerged as vital and innovative forces in international studio glass. Australia, too, has made its mark on the art form, having fostered a vital studio glass movement of its own since the early 1970s.