The Venice Glass Week - Awards - Honorable Mentions - Cristina Beltrami - Hugh Findletar - La Bocca del Fuoco

  

Cristina Beltrami

photograph - Massimo Pistore - courtesy The Venice Glass Week

 

Palazzo Franchetti - The Venice Glass Week -  #VivaVetro! - Awards

Honorable Mentions

Cristina Beltrami - Hugh Findletar - La Bocca del Fuoco

 

At Palazzo Franchetti, home of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, the  jury of the Fondazione di Venezia Prize composed of Giovanna Palandri, Paola Marini and Jean Blanchaert awarded Honorable Mentions: to the  Jamaican Hugh Findletar for From My little Pond Side to the Grand Canal and to La Bocca di Fuoco for the traditional night run between glass  furnaces. Cristina Beltrami was commended for the quality and dedication of her critical contribution and curatorship in the field of glass.  Cristina has curated three museum shows for the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia for The Venice Glass Week, as well as co-curating, with Giordana Naccari the exhibition The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection at the Stanze del Vetro, on show until, November 1.

 

Paola Marini, Cristina Beltrami and Giovanna Palandri 

 

https://www.theveniceglassweek.com/en/

 

Museo di Storia Naturale Giancarlo Ligabue di Venezia

 More Real than Real - Bruno Amadi

Cristina Beltrami - curator 

More Real than Real is the name of the exhibition, a game and a challenge to the visitor in tracking down, the extraordinary glass miniatures by Bruno Amadi, shown in comparison with the shells, the roaches, the locusts, the mosquitos, the butterflies, the crustaceans… of the permanent collection of the Museo di Storia Naturale Giancarlo Ligabue di Venezia. The exhibition - curated by Cristina Beltrami - presents a selection of about forty unique pieces realized by the great Master of lampworking, from the Seventies till today, contributing to keep alive this technique of eternal wonder.

 

 More Real than Real - Bruno Amadi

 

 More Real than Real - Bruno Amadi

 

Mauro Bon - Research and Scientific  Education Head

Museo di Storia Naturale Giancarlo Ligabue di Venezia

Contacts Staff Contacts Staff MUSEUM HEAD Luca Mizzan RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC EDUCATION HEAD

https://msn.visitmuve.it/en/contacts/staff/

 

More Real than Real - Bruno Amadi

 

Palazzo Mocenigo

Seabead Flowers - Benedetta Gaggia

Cristina Beltrami - curator 

 

In the Portego of Palazzo Mocenigo the extraordinary creation of flowers made with minuscule glass beads is a “family affair” for Benedetta Gaggia; it’s a passion inherited from her mother Mariagrazia Gaggia, who learnt this handcraft work from the legendary Donna Nella Lopez y Royo Sammartini. Benedetta also uses Murano’s old “conterie” which are now stored in the family Palazzo. She creates buds and multicoloured petals, sometimes inspired by real flowers other times by the artist’s imagination, revitalizing the old “conterie” handcraft work, which in olden days was very popular in Venice. The exhibition was curated by Cristina Beltrami.

 

 Benedetta Gaggia

 

Palazzo Mocenigo

Seabead Flowers - Benedetta Gaggia

 

photograph - Cristina Beltrami

Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Venezia

Ottaviano Augusto in Dialogue with the Antique 

Giberto Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga

Cristina Beltrami - curator

Starting from Ottaviano Augusto’s bronze by Ferdinand Barbedienne (1810-1892), itself a copy of a classic marble, Giberto Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga – in partnership with Master Giorgio Giuman, an expert in the lost wax technique – created four versions of the bust: in crystal, amber, avventurina and black with gold leaf eyes. The production process is quite complex and underlined by presenting the wax version, the intermediate step between original, also on show, and glass. The exhibition, curated by Cristina Beltrami, highlights the glass’ versatility in a game of contrasts between the bright colors of Ottaviano Augusto and the series of antique marbles in room 9 of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Venezia.

 

photograph - Cristina Beltrami

 

Ottaviano Augusto in Dialogue with the Antique 

Giberto Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga

 

 

Le Stanze del Vetro - Fondazione Giorgio Cini

The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection 

Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami - curators

 

The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection, curated by Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami, retraces the history of 20th-century Murano glass from an unusual angle: the glass animal. The 750 works of art, representing elephants, hippos, cats, giraffes, bears, parrots, fish, turtles, foxes and tiny, life-sized insects, belong to the personal collection of Pierre Rosenberg, art historian and former Director/President of the Louvre in Paris. Some of the most famous series by Napoleone Martinuzzi, by Tyra Lundgren or Toni Zuccheri are on show, alongside a vast sample of animals made by lesser-known but equally interesting glassworks from the point of view of the experimentation of 20th-century Murano. On show until November 1.

See Full Coverage

https://contessanally.blogspot.com/search?q=the+glass+ark/

 

 

Hugh Findletar

photograph Massimo Pistore - courtesy The Venice Glass Week

Palazzo Franchetti - The Venice Glass Week -  #VivaVetro! - Awards

Honorable Mentions

Hugh Findletar

 

An Honorable Mention, considered to be of particular interest, went the glass fish installation From My little Pond Side to the Grand Canal created by the Jamaican artist Hugh Findletar in collaboration with the Master glassmaker Oscar Zanetti at Palazzo Contarini Polignac.

 

Paola Marini, Hugh Findletar and Giovanna Palandri 

 

 

Edmond a Venise - Palazzo Contarini Polignac

From My little Pond Side to the Grand Canal

Hugh Findletar 

 

From photography to the art of flower arrangement and glass blowing, Hugh Findletar has moved from New York, Kenya, Japan and now Milan where he lives and works. The artist’s humble beginnings in glass extrapolated after his time in Murano, Venice - home to the world’s best glass artisans and it is most apt that he presented his works there during The Venice Glass Week to pay homage to the very masters of the craft. His glass fish series amplifies not only the vibrancy of life, but also raises light to underlying semantics of sustainability, biodiversity and the regeneration of the Venice ecosystem and the lagoon.

 

From My little Pond Side to the Grand Canal

Hugh Findletar 

From My little Pond Side to the Grand Canal

Hugh Findletar 

 

photograph - Massimo Pistore - courtesy The Venice Glass Week

 

Palazzo Franchetti - The Venice Glass Week -  #VivaVetro! - Awards

Honorable Mention

La Bocca del Fuoco 

La Bocca del Fuoco - The Mouth of Fire - was  awarded an Horonrable Mention for the traditional night run between the glass furnaces, that took place in Murano.

 

Giovanna Palandri, La Bocca del Fuoco and Paola Marini

photograph - Massimo Pistore - courtesy The Venice Glass Week 

 

La Bocca del Fuoco

ASD Venezia Runners Atletica Murano

organisers 

Discover Murano by night – one of the most charming islands of Venice – crossing six glass furnaces by night in full activity on a route lit up with candles. The tradition of glass making has been jealously kept secret until the end of the Serenissima Republic when the glass masters were forced to live on the island and could leave only with a permit … these incredible secrets were shared with all the runners for one night only. Upon entering the Opificio - the workshop -  they were inebriated by blasts of hot air coming from the incandescent furnaces and by the smell of wet wood burned with the heat of the glass. All around the furnace are the ancient tools of the Glass Master sitting on his Magiosso - the original Venetian word for stool - and the different components which are then mixed together in big vessels, to make original Venetian glass.

 

Please Note 

Text for this post is edited from 

The Venice Glass Week 

website

https://www.theveniceglassweek.com/en/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore – Le Stanze del Vetro – The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection

 

"The fascination of a collection lies just as much in what it reveals as in what it conceals of the secret urge that led to its creation."

Italo Calvino

Collection of Sand - 1974 

 

Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore - Le Stanze del Vetro
The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection

 

At Le Stanze del Vetro - until August 1 - the exhibition The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection is curated by Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami and retraces - in an interesting and fascinating way - the history of 20th-century Murano glass from an unusual angle: the glass animal. Over 750 works of art - representing among others, elephants, hippos, cats, giraffes, bears, parrots, fish, turtles, foxes and tiny, lamp-worked life-sized insects belonging to the personal collection which Pierre Rosenberg, art historian and former director and president of the Louvre in Paris which he has put together over the past thirty years. 

 

http://lestanzedelvetro.org/  

 

Some of the most famous series are on show, with pieces by Napoleone Martinuzzi, birds by Tyra Lundgren and Toni Zuccheri for Venini. Alongside the Zebrati series by Barovier & Toso, the aquariums by Alfredo Barbini, the well-known examples of Seguso Vetri d'Arte, as well as, lesser-known but equally interesting glassworks from the technical point of view with regard to the formal experimentation of the 20th-Century Murano glass production.  This child friendly exhibition also showcases works by living artists such as Cristiano Bianchin, Isabelle Poilprez, Maria Grazia Rosin and Giorgio Vigna that demonstrate the inexhaustible source of inspiration that the glass animal has to offer.

The Savannah and Desert Room

 

 

"I was at the Al Covo restaurant, when I noticed a small glass display case and so, at the end of lunch, I asked the owner about the objects in it. My attention was particularly taken by a fish, which they told me was made by Licio Zanetti and, seeing my enthusiasm, the owners, very generously made me a present of it."

Pierre Rosenberg

 

 Licio Zanetti - Fish - Vetreria Artistica Zanetti - 1970s-1980s

"Knowing that my mother-in-law loved Dachshunds, I bought it, even though it was rather expensive, but ended up hanging onto the piece. These are the two glass animals that started my collection, in a rather random manner, linked to chance occasions in my life, as is often the case."

Pierre Rosenberg

 

 Dachshund - ASV - Barovier Seguso Ferro - 1937c 

 

photograph courtesy Le Stanze del Vetro

"I may have chosen animals because they were less fashionable than vases and also because they are more fun as well as revealing an inventiveness and host of unique inspirations that are well represented by the different furnaces in Murano. I'm fascinated by the way that the artists from Murano - and my use of the word "artist" here is deliberate - recreate these subjects, understanding them, going beyond mere representation, giving them a distinctive pose or borrowed gesture. I believe this reveals incredible observation skills, like those of great artists."

 The "Instinctive Collector" 
Pierre Rosenberg at home in Paris

 

 

"Cats are undoubtedly difficult to portray in glass as much as in painting."

The Pets Room
Franck Ehrler - Cat - Zaccaria - Vetreria Anfora - Murano - 1999

 

 

"I found in someone's home, a Barovier & Toso dog, which I knew would appeal to Pierre;  I was so pleased with my purchase that I put it in the display case...In no time at all, I received several offers for it from other clients so I ended up removing it because I wanted it to become part of Pierre's collection."

Giordana Naccari
creator and co-curator of the exhibition 

The Pets Room
Barovier & Toso - Fox Terrier - 1947
on the bridge

 

Flavio Poli - Poodle - Seguso Vetri d'Arte - 1956 -1954
Seguso Vetri d'Arte - Drawing for Poodle model  

 

 

 

"Flavio Poli's Fox, one of my favorite pieces, is evoked in the single pose of an animal curled up to rest: just a few details and a single piece joining head and tail, almost tempting you to caress it.  I believe that my awareness of this particular aspect of movement frozen in glass is something I share with Rosenberg, a point of view that has brought us together."
Giordana Naccari
co-curator

Flavio Poli - Fox - ASV - Barovier Seguso Ferro - 1935 

photograph by Enrico Fiorese - courtesy Le Stanze del Vetro

  

"Dino Marten's Eel is a splendid piece for me, because it is sinuous and in a certain sense holds the fluidity of the glass.. It has a sweet and very expressive nose.  Martens has been able to create glass with pictorial sensitivity."

Cristina Beltrami

co-curator

 

Luciano Gaspari - Fish - Salviati & C. - 1970s-1980s

Dino Martens - Eel -Vetreria Aureliano Toso - 1960s-1970s

Alfredo Barbini - Aquarium with Shrimps - 1960s 

 

photograph by Enrico Fiorese - courtesy Le Stanze del Vetro

 

The exhibition installation is designed by Denise Carnini and Francesca Pedrotti, two designers who have engaged in setting up a glass zoo tailor made for young visitors.

 

 

The Jungle Room

Ercole Barovier - Monkey - Vetreria Artistica Barovier & C. - 1928-1930

 

 

"Animals have always been considered easy to give as gifts or take home as a souvenir after the classic honeymoon in Venice; in fact, we find glass animals in the most far-flung corners of the world, brought back by friends and relations after a visit to Murano."

 

 The Farm Room

Cockerel - Pauly & C. - 1970s 

 

 

 

The Farm Room

Napoleone Martinuzzi - Horses - 1928-1933

 

photograph by Enrico Fiorese - courtesy Le Stanze del Vetro

 

 

The Woods Room

Toni Zuccheri - A Little Owl - Venini & C. - 1980s

Vetreria Formia or Badioli - Little Owl - 1980s

Vetreria Formia - Little Owl - 1980s

 

 

Flavio Poli - Fox - Barovier Seguso Ferro - 1934c.

Napoleone Barovier - ASV - Barovier Seguso Ferro - 1930s

 

photograph by Enrico Fiorese - courtesy Le Stanze del Vetro

 

Toni Zuccheri - Anteater - Barovier & Toso - 1983

 

 

photograph by Enrico Fiorese - courtesy Le Stanze del Vetro

 

 "Whales are another of my favorite animals and I have been fond of them long before they became "fashionable".  I was fortunate in acquiring quite a large number because they have become rather rare."

Pierre Rosenberg 

 

The Seas and The Poles Room 

Licio Zanetti - Whale - Zanetti Veteria Artistica - 1980s

 

Ercole Barovier - Fish - Vetreria Artistica Barovier & C. - 1929

 

 

"Maria Grazia Rosin's biomorphic sculptures are always alien, with a pronounced dreamlike quality, that engenders highly evocative "intra-extraterrestrial" universes or sensorial machines."

Maria Grazia Rosin - b.1958 - Octupus - Compagnia Vetraria Muranese - Segio Tiozzo - 2007

 

 

"Marcantonio Brandolini d'Adda's Fish is the only blown glass piece in the Rosenberg Collection to be made with cotisse, waste from glassworking, which frequently features in his works."

 

Marcantonio Brandolini d'Adda - b. 1991 - Fish - Dona glassworks

Paolo Rossetto mechanicals - 2020

 

 

The Pond Room

 

"Giorgio Vigna was inspired by an idea of solid glass with colour layers made using the sommerso technique when he designed the blue duck in 2007."

 

Giorgio Vigna - b. 1955 - Duck - Ittala - 2007 

 

 

"Bruno Amadi introduced me to the world of lampworking.  I fell in love with his creations and with his personality, and have lost none of my enthusiasm over the years. I have continued to collect his tiny creations, which he makes with the great skill of an artisan.  An artisan with the approach of an artist, in the sense that the doubts and uncertainties that he experiences during his work are typical of the artistic temperament.  It is the same sensibility that allows him, on the one hand, to carefully create flowers, vegetables, and insects - even highly realistic ants and spiders - and, on the other, to cross the boundaries of technical virtuosity to capture the "intelligence of the object".

Pierre Rosenberg 

 

Bruno Amadi - b. 1946 - Butterflies - 1980s 

 

 

"On Cristiano Bianchin's vase the slim green snake is made using the incamiciatura technique, it clings to a red bottle with a neck that is sunk slightly into the body, giving it the appearance of stylised apple. At this point the sculpture acquires a symbolic value: the vase becomes the biblical apple of sin featuring its slender serpertine tempter."

 

Cristiano Bianchin - b. 1963 - Snake on Vase L'Autunnale - Vetreria Lucio De Maio - Vittorio Ferro - 1995

The exhibition also has an animated video - The Enchanted Menagerie - by Giulia Savorani - visual artist and director who, starting from drawings on glass, has created a fairy tale cartoon, based on an idea by Giordana Naccari for this occasion.

Giulia Savorani - The Enchanted Menagerie - Video 

 

The 3D Virtual Tour

The 3D virtual tour is also available to allow the public to visit the exhibition free of charge from home.

http://lestanzedelvetro.org/  

 

 

 

The Catalogue

The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Skira, which opens with an interview revealing the spirit of the collector, together with essays by the curators, Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami, by Jean-Luc Olivie, curator of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and by glass historian Rosa Barovier Mentasti. It also includes cataloguing of all the pieces in the exhibition often accompanied by period drawings, photographs and prints.

Note: Some of the text and all of the quotes, for this blog, were taken from the catalogue, without which this blog would not have been made possible. A big THANK YOU goes to Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami  for your precious  essays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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