Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

Murano glass production at the prestigious Venetian event from the 1910s to the 1930s

Devoted to the presence of Murano glass at the prestigious Venetian event, this new title in the "Le Stanze del Vetro" series examines the period from 1912 to 1930 (from the 10th to the 17th edition of the Biennale) through a carefully chosen selection of 135 works, many of which very rare, from prestigious museums and private collections. During this period, Murano glass gradually made its way into the Biennale spaces; first, through the artists choosing to use this extraordinary material for their works, then thanks to the opening of the Applied Arts event which was held in various rooms, together with the so-called Fine Arts, in the Palazzo dell'Esposizione until 1930. It was not until 1932, following the construction of a new pavilion, that glass and the applied arts had their own dedicated venue in the Giardini. In the 1910s, it was mostly glass designed by artists such as the Norwegian-born sculptor and ceramist Hans Stoltenberg Lerche, the Murano decorator Vittorio Toso Borella, the painters Vittorio Zecchin and Teodoro Wolf Ferrari and the wrought-iron artist Umberto Bellotto. After the interruption due to the war, since the 1920s, alongside some of these artists, glassworks began to appear at the Biennale that presented autonomously their best production or with the collaboration of external designers. Among them were the furnace of Giacomo Cappellin and Paolo Venini, V.S.M. Cappellin Venini e C. and the Vetreria Artistica Barovier.

Edited by Marino Barovier and Carla Sonego, the result of careful bibliographic research and an in-depth documentary investigation in the Biennale Historical Archive, the volume illustrates with period photographs, drawings and documentary material what was exhibited at the Biennale in a period that marked the entry of so-called minor art into the world of major arts, officially consecrating the artistic value of Murano's avant-garde production.