Several world-class collections are displayed under one roof in Wisconsin.
By Neala McCarten
June 2019
One of the world’s most stunning and comprehensive museums of glass art began with a child’s love for her grandmother’s paperweight. You’ll find this collection at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah, Wisconsin.
The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass contains amazing pieces of art. Among the more contemporary items is “Environmental with Berries and Flowers.”
Evangeline Bergstrom (born in 1872) was the girl’s name. As an adult in 1935, she was wintering in Florida when she saw a paperweight like the one she knew as a child. She bought the 1847 Baccarat crystal piece and began to purchase many others that caught her attention. Only four years later, in 1939, The Art Institute of Chicago displayed more than 200 pieces she had collected. Evangeline became an expert on antique paperweights and wrote a book about them that was considered one of the most authoritative references of the time.
Paperweights
The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass holds the largest, most representative assemblage of glass paperweights in the world. It has 652 paperweights — mostly antique — that were bequeathed by Evangeline Bergstrom, plus more than 4,200 other objects, many of which are on view.
Fabulous modern pieces at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass include this art glass.
The Bergstrom-Mahler museum offers an encyclopedic collection, with paperweights dating from the 19th century to today, made with a diversity of techniques. Visitors can see the painstaking transformation of tiny bits of colored glass into flowers, fruit, and animals using a technique called flameworking (sometimes called lampworking); the canes of millefiori (Italian for “thousand flowers”), and how they are transformed; and the encased cameo-like medallions and portraits made using the sulphide technique.
The objects include hundreds of Perthshire paperweights, which make beautiful use of the millefiori canes and lampwork.
Rare antique paperweights are on display as well. One favorite is a dahlia paperweight that was part of Evangeline’s original collection.
Artworks from stellar contemporary glass designers Paul J. Stankard and Josh Simpson are also on display. Mr. Stankard is considered one of the best flame-workers today, while Mr. Simpson creates complex ecosystems and miniature worlds within paperweights using flameworking and furnace-working techniques.
Glass From Europe And Beyond
Fabulous modern pieces at the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass include this vase.
The Mahler-associated part of the museum displays perhaps one of the most unusual Christmas gifts ever presented to a woman. In the 1930s, Ernst Mahler, a scientist who developed absorbent cotton wadding for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, decided to surprise his wife, Carol Lyon Mahler, with something that represented his home city of Vienna, Austria. So, he purchased the entire collection of Germanic glass known as the Kurz Collection.
The Mahler Collection of Germanic Glass spans three centuries of glassmaking in northern and central Europe; the earliest example dates to 1573. One of the highlights is the art of Anton Kothgasser, according to Jennifer Stevenson, the museum’s marketing and communications director. The museum displays some of his beakers (fancy goblets used for special occasions), which have enameling and gold on the glass.
The Mahler Collection of Germanic Glass includes this footed beaker created circa 1825.
After you’ve seen the Bergstrom and Mahler parts of the museum, wander over to the growing contemporary art-glass collection. Part of the museum’s acquisition plan is to expand not only its paperweight display, but also the contemporary art glass. One outstanding example of the latter is “Dinosaur” (2011), by famed Italian master artist Lino Tagliapietra. The pieces in the permanent collection are often supplemented by special exhibits.
The museum came about because of efforts on behalf of the Bergstroms and Ernst Mahler. As for Mahler, “Without him there might not have been a museum,” explained Ms. Stevenson. “He led the effort.” There was some deadline pressure to make it happen as well. The Bergstroms had stipulated in their will that their house had to become a museum within two years of the death of Mrs. Bergstrom. She died in February 1958. The museum opened in April 1959.
The Bergstroms also stipulated that the museum have no admission charge. “The Bergstroms wanted people to see the beauty of the things they loved,” Ms. Stevenson said. They saw it as a gift to people, and wanted to share. Donations are accepted, however.
Be sure to make some time in your travels to appreciate it.
Details
Masterfully made modern paperweights are at the museum.
Free parking is available on the street in front of the museum; RVers are welcome to use the bus parking stalls if they are not occupied. The driveway is better suited for smaller passenger vehicle parking, but on the circle drive, RVs may fit just fine. Call ahead if you need more information.
Museum hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass
165 N. Park Ave.
Neenah, WI 54956
(920) 751-4658
www.bmmglass.com