William Warmus is a Fellow and former curator of Modern Glass at the Corning Museum of Glass as well as consulting Curator for Contemporary Glass at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach.

He studied with art critic Harold Rosenberg, art historian John Rewald, and philosopher Paul Ricoeur while at the University of Chicago, and was the advisor to the estates of the art critic Clement Greenberg and the collectors Paul and Elmerina Parkman.

Warmus is the author or co-author of over 20 books, including books about Dale Chihuly, Louis C. Tiffany, René Lalique, Emile Gallé, Tom Patti, and Frantisek Vizner. He is the founding editor of the New Glass Review and contributing editor and past editor of Glass Quarterly.

His most recent exhibitions include “Venice and American Studio Glass” co-curated with Tina Oldknow for the Stanze del Vetro museum in Venice in 2020, and “Years of Glass,” curated for the Norton Museum of Art in 2022.. His most recent monograph is about Martin Janecky, co-authored with Barbora Kundraciková. It will be published in Prague in December, 2025.

He is a moderator of “21st Century Glass“ at Facebook, an advisor to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma on acquisitions policy, and a past board member of Urban Glass, GAS, and AACG. He was born in Corning, where his father was a glassblower for Corning Inc., and lives near Ithaca.

Appraisals

His appraisal practice focuses on modern and contemporary glass, and he has been an expert witness in Federal Court. He is USPAP compliant and has taken the 15 hour USPAP course.

Warmus has taught ASA seminars about the appraisal of modern glass as part of the Appraisals Study program at the Rhode Island School of Design and lectured about the value of modern glass at the American Society of Appraisers International Conference in New York City.

He was an expert witness in Federal Court (Bellis v. Tokio Marine; Southern District of New York) where he conducted the forensic appraisal of a group of masterworks by Louis C. Tiffany, and an expert witness for the artist Dale Chihuly in a highly publicized copyright case, Chihuly v. Kaindl.

Published books

• New Glass: A Worldwide Survey. Corning Museum of Glass. 1979. ISBN 9780486241562.

• Buechner, Thomas C.; Warmus, William (1981). Czechoslovakian Diary: 1980. Corning NY: Corning Museum of Glass. ISBN 978-0872901025.

• New Glass Review 1-5. Corning NY: Corning Museum of Glass. 1980–1984.

• Warmus, William (1984). Emile Gallé: Dreams into Glass. Corning NY: Corning Museum of Glass. ISBN 9780872901094.

• Warmus, William; Geldzahler, Henry (1988). Dan Dailey: Simple Complexities in Drawings and Glass 1872-1987 (Philadelphia College of the Arts). University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295966632.

• Warmus, William (1989). The Venetians: Modern Glass 1919-1990. Muriel Karasik Gallery. ISBN 9780962458507.

• Self, Dana; Warmus, William (1996). Chihuly Over Venice. Seattle: Chihuly Workshop. ISBN 9781576840054.

• Warmus, William (commentary) (2000). Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000. Portland Press. ISBN 9781576840160.

• Warmus, William (2000). The Essential Dale Chihuly. New York: Harry Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-5812-0.

• Vizner, Frantisek; Warmus, William (2001). Vizner: Glass 1951-2001. New York: Barry Friedman. ISBN 9788023875539.

• Warmus, William (2001). The Essential Louis C. Tiffany. New York: Harry Abrams. ISBN 9780810958289.

• Warmus, William (2003). The Essential René Lalique. New York: Harry Abrams. ISBN 9780810958364.

• Warmus, William (2003). Fire and Form. Norton Museum of Art. ISBN 9780943411392.

• Mentasti, Rose Barovier; Warmus, William (2003). Yoichi Ohira: A Phenomenon in Glass. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 9780972310802.

• Warmus, William; Kuspit, Donald (2005). Tom Patti: Illuminating the Invisible. Seattle: Museum of Glass. ISBN 9780295984735.

• Warmus, William (2006). William Morris. Native Species. The George R. Stroemple Collection. Belzar Springs Press. ISBN 9780978869502.

• Warmus, William (2007). Dan Dailey. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 9780810993198.

• Close, Timothy; Minkoff, Robert; Page, Andrew; Warmus, William (2011). Beauty Beyond Nature: The Glass Art of Paul Stankard. Robert M. Minkoff Foundation. ISBN 9780615473628.

• Warmus, William; Burkhalter, Laura (2013). Transparencies: Contemporary Art & A History of Glass. Des Moines Art Center. ISBN 9781879003668.

• Barovier, Rosa; Warmus, William; Patino, Maricruz (2013). Narcissus Quagliata: Architypes and Visions in Light and Glass. Arnoldsche. ISBN 9783897903784.

• Ricke, Helmut; Warmus, William (2016). Art Deco Glass: The David Huchthausen Collection. Tacoma: Museum of Glass. ISBN 9780692781937.

• Warmus, William; Oldknow, Tina (2020). Venice and American Studio Glass. Milan: Skira. ISBN 9788857243870.

• “The Boathouse: The Artist’s Studio of Dale Chihuly” (2023) distributed by the University of Washington Press, ISBN 978-1-5768-4119-8. Written with David Williams and Leslie Jackson Chihuly.

• Martin Janecky. Monograph (2025). Kodl Contemporary Gallery, Prague. Co-authored with Barbora Kundraciková.