contessanally: Venice: Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947

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Photograph by Ettore Bellini courtesy Fondazione Cini

Venice: Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947 – Fondazione Cini. The exhibition Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932–1947, curated by Marino Barovier, until 29 November, at the Fondazione Cini, reconstructs Carlo Scarpa’s career in the years when he was artistic director of the Venini glassworks, from 1932 to 1947. The exhibition is the first public event of Le Stanze del Vetro (Rooms for Glass), a new permanent space, a long-term cultural project launched by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in collaboration with Pentagram Stiftung for the purpose of studying and showcasing the art of Venetian glassmaking in the 20th century.

Above: Rigati, 1938 and Tessuti, 1940. The rigato and tessuto glass can be considered Scarpa’s original interpretation of the rod glass (i.e. filigree glass) and consists of multi-colored glass rods. They were exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1938.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. The Italian architect Carlo Scarpa at work in his studio in Asolo. "At Venini Carlo Scarpa was always attentive, curious and eager to expand his knowledge. He was determined to learn how to handle materials and change their aspect, colors, forms and techniques.  The learning process took place discreetly, with the help of experienced master glass blowers, who knew their craft’s secrets and remained loyal to a tradition passed down from one master craftsman to another.   Scarpa himself became a master: he entertained long conversations with the craftsmen, stimulated experimentation and paved the way for innovative projects. Especially with  master Fei, with whom he had developed a very close relationship, he often stayed on at the glassworks after closing time, when he could take the opportunity to approach new materials, fishing them out from the crucibles after all the minerals had settled.” Writes the curator of the exhibition Marino Barovier.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. Murine Opache, 1940. The opaque murrine glassware is the outcome of Scarpa’s further research on the technique experimented with Paolo Venini in 1936, when the two conceived the “Roman” murrine series.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. Mezza Filigrana, 1934-36. By revisiting the ancient half-filigree (mezza filigrana) technique, already in use in the 16th century, Scarpa designed a refined series of glass pieces, which was presented at the Venice Biennale in 1934. Half-filigree glass features an extremely thin and clear texture, made of a series of clear glass rods with at their centre a piece of lattimo or colored glass.

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Art Director of the exhibition and artist Laura de Santillana.

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The Murrine series.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. Chairman of Pentagram Stiftung Marie-Rose Kahane with her children Max and Mia. “…Since its very beginning, the world of Venini was dedicated to absolute perfection and simplicity, by mastering excellence of techniques, colors and forms through combining the skill of great craftsmen with innovation and experimentation. Each new work added to my first acquisition reflected a consistent dream of sobriety married to uncontested leadership in style. Each new piece also added to my dream when it merged with existing works of art that filled my house and nourished my mind and soul.” Marie-Rose recollects about her first chance encounter with Venini in the 1980s.

Marina Barovier and Chicca Olivetti.

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Tessuto 1940. Tessuto glass, with a narrowing in the main body.

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Venini’s Giancarlo Chimento.

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Marie Brandolini d'Adda.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. Lattimi, 1936. Susanne Thun photographs the vases. Lattimo glass is a type of opaque white glass obtained by adding a large amount of minuscule crystals to the melting glass.

Carla Sozzani, Kris Ruhs and Franca Coin.

Francesca Migliorati, Chiara Rusconi and Mariuccia Casadio.

Vittorio Gregotti and Matteo Thun.

Massimo Valsecchi.

Tessuti Vases 1940.

Philippe Daverio.

Adele Re Rebaudengo e Francesca Masiero.

Gabriele Basilico.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. Granulari, 1940. The granulari (granular) series, also called murrine granulari, was a development of research on murrine, In particular, these items were made using black glass tesserae with four opal globules at their corners, which, being the first elements to cool down, were not completely incorporated by the surface, thus remaining in relief and giving the glass fabric its characteristic granuloso (granular) effect.

Gimmo Etro, Gabriella Codognato and Roberta Etro.

Attilio Codognato.

Anna Gastel and Max Rabino.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. Laccati Neri e Rossi, 1940. The laccati neri e rossi series was first presented at the Venice Biennale 1940 and received great press coverage. This series included intensely colored glass, presenting a Chinese lacquer-like texture. The objects were red and black, with horizontal or vertical incalmo. To obtain a bright red color, Scarpa used a material made of minuscule lamp-worked glass spheres incorporated into the glass mass. Because of its particular complexity, very few pieces were produced.

Cristiane D'Albis and Ketty Alvera.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. A Fasce Applicate,1940. The thick clear glass items are intensely iridized and owe their name to the typical ribbon-shaped decorations in clear colored glass. This series also stands out for the special hues obtained by superimposing different colored layers.

Francesco Bonami.

Fabio Zonta and Aurora Zonta.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. "The rediscovery of the documents from Venini’s historical archive has allowed a careful examination of the works attributed to Scarpa, to illustrate thoroughly Scarpa’s years of collaboration with Paolo Venini. At the archive there are many period photographs, sometimes with interesting notes in their margin or on their versos, and a series of drawings and designs by Scarpa himself. There is also an almost complete set of furnace drawings, most of them traceable to the 1930s and 1940s.” write the curator of the exhibition Marino Barovier.

Roberta De Camerino.

Maria Alessandra Segantini, Carlo Cappai and Francesca Marzotto.

Stefano Tonchi and David Maupin.

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Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947. A pennellate,1942. Clear glass items decorated with brush-strokes. Scarpa himself defined them as decorated by “large torn out color spots” on the whole surface, as the brush-stroke effect is obtained by adding small quantities of colored opaque glass during the blowing process and dragging them around the vase until the desired thinness is achieved.