Ivo Lill (24 June 1953 – 4 August 2019) was an Estonian glass artist.

Early life and education

Ivo Lill was born in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

to Felix Lill and Asta Lill (''née'' Multer). His father was arrested by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

authorities and spent several years sentenced to forced labor in the

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

system in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, but was able to later return to the family. Lill was the youngest child of three siblings; he had two older sisters, Kadri, and actress Mari Lill. Lill grew up and attended schools in the district of Nõmme and spent time visiting his grandmother on the island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

. His niece is actress Elisabet Reinsalu. Lill was a 1985 graduate of the

Estonian Academy of Arts The Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonian language, Estonian: ''Eesti Kunstiakadeemia'', EKA) is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in art, design, architecture, Media (communication), media, art history and conservation ...

in Tallinn and worked almost exclusively in the medium of

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

sculpting and design. He was a member of the Estonian Artists' Association, G.A.S. (The Glass Art Society) of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, United States, and the Centro Studio Vetro, of Murano-

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, Italy.

Works in public collections

* Art Museum of Estonia – Tallinn, Estonia * Estonian Art Fund – Tallinn, Estonia * Tallinn Art Hall – Tallinn, Estonia * Tallinn Museum of Applied Art – Tallinn, Estonia * Tartu Art Museum –

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

, Estonia * Tallinn Business Center – Tallinn, Estonia * The

Corning Museum of Glass The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning (city), New York, Corning, New York, United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Incorporated, Corning Glass Works and currently has a ...

– Corning, New York, United States * Glasmuseet Ebeltoft – Ebeltoft, Denmark * Glasmuseum Frauenau – Frauenau, Germany * Centre del Vidre de Barcelona –

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain * Gus-Khrustalny Glass Museum – Gus-Khrustalny, Russia * Bohemia Hall – Nový Bor, Czech Republic * Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania –

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Lithuania * Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University –

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

* since 1999 – Annual Prizes for The Black Nights Film festival * since 1999 – Annual Prizes for Estonian Drama Theatre * 1994 – Glass sculpture "The Right To Hope", (47×20×20 cm), "One World Art" programme, travelling exhibition * 1993 – Glass sculpture "The Trinity", (28×28×27 cm), a gift to the Catholic

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

from the Union of Estonian Churches, Pope's Artistic Collection,

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

* 1986 – Glass sculpture “Seven Cubed”, (30×30×30 cm), Ministry of Culture of Russia (Moscow) * 1985 – Glass sculpture “Monster", (100×50×70 cm), Estonian Embassy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia

Awards

* 2014 – Tallinn Order of Merit * 2001 – The Silver Prize of the International Exhibition of Glass,

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

, Japan * 1999 – Kristjan Raud Annual Arts Award * 1995 - Kristjan Raud Annual Arts Award * 1988 – The prize on the Baltic Applied Art Triennial IV * 1986 – The Annual Estonian Artists' Union award

Personal life and death

Ivo Lill was married to Irene Lill. The couple had two daughters. He died unexpectedly at age 66 in

Haapsalu Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375. History The name ''Haapsalu'' derives from the Estonian words ' ...

on 4 August 2019.

References

External links

Ivo Lill homepage

Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design

Internet Art Resources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lill, Ivo 1953 births 2019 deaths Glass artists Artists from Tallinn Estonian Academy of Arts alumni 20th-century Estonian male artists 20th-century Estonian artists 21st-century Estonian male artists 21st-century Estonian artists