MINKOFF COLLECTION

The ROBERT MINKOFF GLASS COLLECTION IS DONATED TO THE MUSEUM OF GLASS IN TACOMA, and his craft library is given to the JRA

The Museum of Glass (MOG) has received a seminal collection of artwork showcasing the development of glass as a studio and contemporary art medium from the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation. With the addition of Robert Minkoff’s personal collection of more than 400 works of art, the Museum’s glass holdings are now the largest in the Western United States. 

an accompanying exhibition will take place spring 2022.

Additionally, the JRA is thankful to the Minkoff family for the full library collection of craft publications. Minkoff was a long-time member of the James Rennwick Alliance and the Museum of Glass' first Trustee Emeritus prior to his passing in September 2020. He was well known at the JRA for championing the studio glass movement and played a significant role as a donor and board member. 

William Morris (American, born 1957). Petroglyph Vessel, Turquoise Lip Wrap, 1987. Hand blown glass with glass powders; 11 × 25 × 25 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of Robert M. Minkoff Foundation.

"Collector and philanthropist Robert Minkoff began to collect after he discovered the solid glass sculptures of Richard Ritter, which offer interior worlds he found both meditative and inspiring. This launched Robert on a decades-long quest to acquire some of the best examples of artistic expression in glass in all techniques,” said Andrew Page, Editor, Glass: The UrbanGlass Art Quarterly, and former director of the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation. “The resulting collection spans the conceptual to the decorative, from monumental works of cast glass to smaller-scale experimental pieces by emerging artists. Like the collector, the works reveal a boundless curiosity and quest for aesthetic refinement in a uniquely transformative material." 

His collection celebrates the incredible diversity of glass art and its possibilities in the field of contemporary art and expands the Museum’s Studio Glass collection, adding works from masters such as Jaroslava Brychtová, Stanislav Libenský, Klaus Moje, Debora Moore, William Morris, Paul Stankard, Therman Statom, and Lino Tagliapietra. It also provides a look at innovative new approaches to the material by artists including Steffan Dam, Luke Jerram, Silvia Levenson, Beth Lipman, and Karen LaMonte.


Museum of Glass will celebrate this significant gift, and the endowment for its stewardship, with an installation in the Museum’s Grand Hall, A Glimpse at the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation Collection, opening October 15, 2020. A major exhibition honoring Minkoff and his collection, with accompanying educational programming, will open in Spring 2022. It will be accompanied by a catalog highlighting the breadth of the collection. ​

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Therman Statom (American, born 1953). Ladder, 2013. Blown glass and mixed media; 76 × 14 × 2 1/2 in. Collection of Museum of Glass, gift of Robert M. Minkoff Foundation.