139. Museum of Glass Art

The Museum of Glass Art is located on Yelagin Island, in the historic Old Greenhouse Pavilion building near Yelagin Palace. The Museum's collections include 8,000 works produced by the Leningrad Art Glass Factory, which operated (at a different location in the city) from 1940 until its closure in 1997. The factory was active initially in the production of utilitarian goods (mirrors and tableware) as well as more artistic items, but eventually shifted to purely decorative glass pieces in the 1960s. It is these works - vases, decanters, cups, and sculptures - that are on display here.

This was a rather small museum, with just three gallery rooms (only two of which contain fully-realized exhibits). I learned quite a bit about the history of the factory and the styles and standout works of a few dozen of its artists from a computer kiosk, and watched part of a video on glassblowing and sculpture techniques. There were also a few exhibits that showed production techniques for smalt mosaics (such as those in the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood) and stained glass windows, although I'm not sure that this factory was actively working in either of those media. One of the rooms contained a space for public programs, which looked to have been recently used for a class on creating "stained" glass (the participants drew designs on the glass).

I don't generally appreciate the decorative arts as much as fine art, but decided to visit this museum because my idea to spend time in Yelagin Palace didn't work as planned. I'm glad I did - although it took me just half an hour to see everything, I learned a bit about glass production techniques and saw some unique items produced in the city by skilled artists during the Soviet era.