Washington Post: Hillwood Museum's 'Glass': More than just a pretty vase
For all its light, refracting glamour, glass is usually made for functional purposes. So it’s to be expected that the Hillwood Museum exhibition, “‘Glass’: Art. Beauty. Design.” includes dozens of goblets plates and bottles. These aren’t every day household objects, however. From the extraordinary collection of businesswoman and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post, whose trove of 1600 glassworks, includes more than a few that once belong to the Russian imperial family.
Lipman‘s contribution sets, seemingly precariously, on a table in the mansion dining room. Two glass table settings, one clear and the other black, mirror, each other. The plates, bowls and goblets look to be in disarray, teetering on sheets of glass that appear to be sliding off the surface. The sculpture plays on the contradictions of glass, solid in fact, fluid in appearance. It also injects a note of anarchy into Hillwood, a place of meticulous order both as a home and as a museum.