The overlaying technique is an ancient technique, still widely in use today, obtained by submerging the blown artefact in a crucible with glass of different colour. Cased glass was the mainstay of Venini’s production with Tomaso Buzzi. He was very fond of this technique and explored it with great passion and commitment, and often turned to Venini’s glassblowers for advice. Buzzi devised a new texture consisting of five to seven ultra-thin coloured glass layers enclosing one or two layers of very thin lattimo glass. The new glass material was then decorated with gold leaf. The final result had a previously unseen play of color and a rich and fascinating appearance.
Buzzi’s glass was often pink, green-yellow or grey-blue. These colors characterized the laguna, alga and alba series, while the tramonto items had pinkish-red hues.
The autumn exhibition will be dedicated to Paolo Venini, an enlightened and creative entrepreneur. Exhibiting 300 works that recount his creative vision as well as of those artists who collaborated with him over the years such as Gio Ponti, Riccardo Licata, Ken Scott, Massimo Vignelli and Tobia Scarpa
Milanese by birth and Muranese by choice, Paolo Venini (1895-1959) was a great protagonist of twentieth century glass, and made a decisive contribution to keeping it alive with his enthusiastic works over the course of forty years. In his important role as a cultured, enlightened and creative entrepreneur, Paolo Venini will be the focus of the autumn exhibition at LE STANZE DEL VETRO: “Paolo Venini and his Furnace”, curated by Marino Barovier, will run on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore from 11th September 2016 to 8th January 2017. Through 300 works the exhibition will feature the creations of Paolo Venini and some of the artists who collaborated with him in the period following World War II.
Paolo Venini founded the V.S.M. Venini & C. glassworks together with Napoleone Martinuzzi and Francesco Zecchin in 1925. He later became Chairman of the company and worked tirelessly as guiding mentor and manager of the firm until his death in 1959. In the course of forty years of business he collaborated with great artists such as the sculptor Napoleone Martinuzzi, the architects Tomaso Buzzi and Carlo Scarpa, and the designer Fulvio Bianconi to whom LE STANZE DEL VETRO have already dedicated solo exhibitions.
The role of Paolo Venini and his extraordinary personality will be at the centre of the exhibition Paolo Venini and his Furnace, but, at the same time, it will also feature the creations of those who collaborated with him episodically between the thirties and fifties, called in by Venini or having arrived themselves due to their interest in the quality of his furnace’s work: Tyra Lundgren, Gio Ponti, Piero Fornasetti, Eugène Berman, Ken Scott, Charles Lin Tissot, Riccardo Licata, Massimo Vignelli, Tobia Scarpa, Grete Prytz.
On occasion of the show “Paolo Venini and his Furnace”, a catalogue will be published, edited by Skira for LE STANZE DEL VETRO, curated by Marino Barovier and Carla Sonego.
Checkered 'murrine' glass vases and bowl, 1953
Transparent 'murrine' glass plates, 1957 ca.
We cordially invite you and your friends to attend the opening event on Wednesday, 6 May 2015, 10 am or the regular exhibition on 8 May to13 September 2015, Museum Bellerive, Höschgasse 3, Zürich.
I look forward to meeting you at the exhibition.
Peter Grünbaum 1000-objekte.ch
Invitationcard in German: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0213/0290/files/murano_einladungskarte.pdf?7950725497403955046
Curated by Marino Barovier, this will be the third exhibition dedicated to the history of the Venini glassware company promoted by Le Stanze del Vetro, a long-term cultural initiative launched by Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Pentagram Stiftung, devoted to the study and the promotion of the art of glassmaking in the twentieth century and will focus on Buzzi’s works in the years he collaborated with Murano glassworks (1932-1933).
Until 11 January 2015
Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
LE STANZE DEL VETRO