KANSAS CITY, MO.- Glass, an indispensable part of our daily lives, is beautiful, useful, and has been made the same way for thousands of years. A new installation at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City celebrates this enduring art form by presenting works from the museum’s collection of European decorative arts spanning the ancient world to the 19th century. On view from November 2, 2024, through August 9, 2026, Glorious Glass: Selections from the Collections showcases nearly four dozen examples of glass.

“Glorious Glass is part of an ongoing series of collection-based, multi-year focus exhibitions that take a new look at the museum’s extraordinary collection of decorative arts,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins. “This sparkling exhibition also highlights five recent acquisitions illustrating the combination of beauty and utility that marks this art form.”

Included in those new acquisitions on view for the first time is the Bacchus Goblet, one of the largest and most celebrated examples of 18th century English lead glass drinking glasses. This monumental ceremonial glass graced some of the most significant collections in Great Britain, including the collection of William Randolph Hearst, who owned it for 20 years.

Besides recent acquisitions, the installation contains objects from the museum’s glass holdings that have not been seen in years, including rare examples of ancient glass acquired early in the museum’s history.

Also on view are selected examples from the Wallenstein Collection, an exceptional group of English lead glass given to the museum in the mid-1990s. Marcel Wallenstein was the London correspondent for the Kansas City Star during the World War II era. His wife, Marcelle Wallenstein, was an early motion picture and theatrical costume designer. While in Europe, they fell in love with English lead glass, which in the 18th and early 19th centuries was the most sought-after glassware in Europe. In the years before the outbreak of the Second World War, they built an important collection of English glass that their daughter, Eve St. Martin Wallenstein, gave to the museum in their memory.

“We have amazing stories to tell about material culture, thanks to generous donors who gave works of art as well as created specific funds to acquire decorative arts now and in the future,” said Dr. William Keyse Rudolph, Deputy Director, Curatorial Affairs, Chief Curator and Head, Architecture, Design and Decorative Arts. “While we show fine and decorative arts together in the permanent collection galleries, as people had lived with them, we also like to feature deep dives into specific types of decorative arts to remind our visitors that the objects we use in our daily lives can tell us a great deal about how we live and who we are.”

Glorious Glass: Selections from the Collections is free to the public and supported by a grant from the Kress Foundation.