NORFOLK, VA.- The Chrysler Museum of Art received a major gift of glass from the stellar collection of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser. Their generous donation of 46 works consists primarily of Studio Glass movement and contemporary glass from the 1970s through the 2000s. Additional examples represent the mid 20th century, including both studio and mass production from leading glass factories.

Works by 29 artists working in glass are included in the remarkable gift: Gabriel Argy-Rousseau, William Bernstein, Fulvio Bianconi (for Venini & C.), Dan Dailey, Simon Gate and Edvard Hald (each for Orrefors Glasbruk), Jiří Harcuba, Brian Hirst, David Hopper, Silvia Levenson, Martin Lipofsky, Harvey Littleton, Per Lutken (for Holmegaards Glasvaerks), Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora Mace, Paul Marioni, William Morris, Joel Philip Myers, Etsuko Nishi, John Nygren, Yoichi Ohira, Mark Peiser, Colin Reid, Therman Statom, Bertil Vallien, Janusz Walentynowicz, Steven I. Weinberg, Ann Wolff, and Mark Zirpel.

Of those, about one-third were not yet represented in the Chrysler Collection, though several of the artists had come to the Museum’s Perry Glass Studio for working visits to teach and to create. Additional objects by Harvey Littleton, Joey Kirkpatrick and Flora Mace, Fulvio Bianconi, William Morris, and Ann Wolff will expand and enhance our existing holdings by these important artists known for their work in glass.

This gift to the Chrysler reflects the donors’ longstanding interest in studio glassmaking and their dedication to sharing their collections with the public. The Los Angeles-based collectors first became involved in glass in the 1970s when the Studio Glass movement was just beginning. Their great enthusiasm for the medium fueled their involvement at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where they played an important role in the development of LACMA’s studio and contemporary glass collection in the 1980s. Actively involved in the glass community, Susan served on the board of trustees at Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle for 13 years.

In 2012, to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the American Studio Glass Movement, the couple began donating selections from their glass collection to key glass institutions such as the Corning Museum of Glass, LACMA, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. At each institution, their works have helped educate visitors about this dynamic period in the history of glassmaking.

Greenberg and Steinhauser are no strangers to the excellence of the Chrysler’s glass collection. The couple made 2004 and 2008 donations to help the Museum acquire works by kilnworking master Klaus Moje, who died in 2016. Today, from their personal collection, they continue to make gifts of art—ceramics, turned wood, mixed media, photography, and glass—to a host of leading American museums, including the Chrysler.

“The Chrysler is renowned for its encyclopedic collection of glass, with more than 10,000 objects spanning nearly 3,000 years,” says Diane Wright, the Chrysler’s Carolyn and Richard Barry Curator of Glass. “We are gratified that Daniel and Susan have helped us build our collection in the past and continue to do so today. These 46 remarkable gifts will further distinguish the Chrysler’s glass collection and its reputation for internationality as well as quality.”

This substantial gift will broaden the Chrysler’s range of 20th-century works in glass and will provide a wealth of opportunities for exhibition and education in the Museum. “We are so pleased with the exceptional generosity of Dan and Susan. It makes an important contribution to our outstanding and continually growing collection of modern and Studio glass,” says Chrysler Museum Director Erik Neil.

Several of the standout artworks from the Greenberg-Steinhauser gift already are on view in Gallery 119 of the Chrysler Museum’s Waitzer Wing, which houses the glass collection, giving the public an opportunity to appreciate these stunning new collection works in person.