Photograph courtesy Le
Stanze del Vetro – Paolo Venini – the Incisi Series – 1956-57
Venezia: Le stanze del
Vetro - Paolo Venini and his Furnace – Opening and Lunch. At Le Stanze del Vetro, the autumn exhibition Paolo Venini and his
Furnace, until January 8, is curated by Marino Barovier. 300 works recount his
creative vision as well as those of artists who collaborated with him over the
years such as Tyra Lundgren, Gio Ponti, Riccardo Licata, Ken Scott, Massimo
Vignelli and Tobia Scarpa.
Luca Massimo Barbero and Marino
Barovier
Le stanze del Vetro - Paolo Venini
and his Furnace
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 cultured, enlightened
and creative entrepreneur. He 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. Paolo Venini, a skilled businessman
attentive to both contemporary artistic trends and the needs of the
international market, was also the creator of a new series of glass, using his
own technical department and contributing to the list of glass works that still
featured the intervention of several designers.
The
grandchildren - Laura and Paolo Diaz de Santillana
Paolo Venini
– The Diamate Series – 1934-36
Paolo Venini
– The Murrine “a Dame” Series – 1953
The
revival oft he murrine technique gradually led to new types of glass patterned,
mostly opaque - ‘a dame’, mezzaluna, ‘a puntini’ – using striking color
combinations.
Paolo Venini
– Mosaico Multicolore – 1954
Characterized
by a novel interplay of delicate shades of multi-colored glass threads
Le stanze del Vetro - Paolo Venini
and his Furnace
Drawing and
studies for nine types of bottles with notes in Gio Ponti’s hand – graphite,
pen and colored pencil on paper – c. 1950
Gio Ponti –
Bottles – 1946-50
An artist
with whom Paolo Venini worked fruitfully after WWII was the architect Gio Ponti
(1891-1979), who created original bottles, table services and lamps.
Paolo Venini
– Mosaico Zanfirico Series – 1954
Decorated
with a white lace-like pattern that stands out against the colored surface
Pasquale Gagliardi
David Landau
by a photograph of Paolo Venini
Paolo Zevi
and Marie-Rose Kahane
Silvia
Damiani
Tobia Scarpa
- The Battuti Series – 1959-60
Irregular
satin finishes obtained in the cold shop were produced in delicate colors, the
shapes of which show traces of Nordic influences
Tobia Scarpa
– The Occhi Series – 1959-60
The
Occhi – eyes - represent an interpretation of certain glass pieces designed by
his father Carlo before the war. They
are characterized by the use of original murrine with a colorless transparent
nucleus and rim in colored glass or
glass paste with vivid colors.
Ken Scott –
Pesci – 1951
Fashion designer Ken Scott
designed a gaily colored series of fish produced for Macy’s. The series are
characterized by brilliant novel polychrome patterns obtained with the use of
the cased-glass technique and enriched with decoro fenico, applied threads. etc.
Documentary
- Gianluigi Calderone – Paolo Venini – L’Uomo di Notte
Through
the use of anecdotes and first-hand accounts, the documentary describes the
extraordinary attention of the Venini Company to the colors and not just to the
shapes of the glass pieces, to the extent that, in his search for new mixtures,
Venini came close to loosing his eyesight.
Film
director - Gianluigi Calderone
Tyra
Lundgren – The Pesci Series – 1936-38
The
Swedish ceramic artist, used models similar to those already executed in
ceramics, employing techniques then in use in the furnace, such as corroso,
iridised or sommerso glass.
The
Lunch
On a bright sunny September day,
next to Le Stanze del Vetro and The Fondazione Giorgio Cini, lunch was served
on the riva of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore where the sailing boats are
docked.
The
Aperitivo
Acquolina’s
Marika Seguso catered lunch
Lunch
Curator - Marino
Barovier