Le Stanze del Vetro · 2016. 4. 12. · Barovier, will open to the public on the Island of San...

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LE STANZE DEL VETROIsola di San Giorgio Maggiore30124 Venezia, Italia - T. +39 041 522 [email protected] - [email protected]@lestanzedelvetro.it - [email protected]

A joint project by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini onlus and Pentagram Stiftung

Le Stanze del Vetro Inauguration of Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925-1931, the second exhi-bition in the series on the history of the Venini glassmaking company

Napoleone Martinuzzi.Venini 1925 – 1931Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore8 September – 1 December 2013

The exhibition Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925-1931, curated by Marino Barovier, will open to the public on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice on 8 September 2013. It is the second exhibition dedicated to the history of the Venini glassmaking company organised by Le Stanze del Vetro, a long-term cultural initiative launched by the Giorgio Cini Foundation and Pentagram Stiftung and devoted to the study and the promotion of the art of glassmaking in the 20th century.

The many cultural activities of Le Stanze del Vetro include the staging of ten exhibi-tions, to be held on a yearly basis, focused on Venini, whose production is a landmark in 20th-century artistic glassmaking. Each monographic exhibition will present the work of one of the artists who over the years collaborated with the glassware company from Murano. At the end of the long-term series, the individual exhibition catalogues will go to form the catalogue raisonné of the Venini production.

The exhibition space for Le Stanze del Vetro was designed last year by Annabelle Selldorf Architects of New York. Specialists in the design of exhibition spaces and museums, Annabelle Selldorf Architects are now collaborating with some leading Venetian companies with a name for excellence in various fields.

As in the case of the exhibition Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947, which was inaugurated on the Island of San Giorgio in August 2012 and is now due



to open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York next November (5 November 2013 - 2 March 2014), the exhibition on Napoleone Martinuzzi has been made possible thanks to research conducted by curator Marino Barovier and a group of scholars. They meticulously documented the history of Venini and the work of leading designers who contributed to giving the Murano company a worldwide reputation. Through the analysis and cross-checking of various documentary sources (photos, catalogues, furnace drawings) and their comparison with the real objects provided by museums, public and private institutions, and Italian and foreign collectors, a compre-hensive survey was made of the glass objects designed by Napoleone Martinuzzi from 1925 to 1931, when he was Artistic Director of Venini.

During his collaboration with Paolo Venini, Martinuzzi designed beautiful objects whose shapes were inspired by classical design, but also involved the use of innovative tech-niques and glass paste. The exhibition Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925-1931 reconstructs his whole production chronologically: from elegant transparent blown glass to works with an unprecedented opaque texture, from the experiments with pulegoso glass (a semi-opaque or translucent glass with a rough surface due to tiny bubbles formed by using special ingredients) to pieces with deep, dense colours.

The around 200 works on display in the exhibition are representative of the most significant stages in the glass art of the ingenious sculptor from Murano. Many of these works were presented at the Venice Biennale from 1926 to 1930 and at major exhibitions of decorative arts, such as the Biennale and the Triennale in Monza. 1930 was a significant year in the history of Venini: thanks to Martinuzzi’s talent, the Venini production was noted for the singular richness of the works shown at these important exhibitions. They ranged from classical transparent pieces to a collection of pulegoso glass with an archaic feel, the striking aquariums, the brightly coloured velato vases, the cacti and the colourful “bestiary”.

The Murano sculptor’s creativity reached new heights in the use of pulegoso glass, a sponge-like, opaque material, full of bubbly inclusions (puleghe). This innovative kind of glass was obtained by adding sodium bicarbonate or oil to the incandescent raw glass. “Being a sculptor” comments curator Marino Barovier, “Martinuzzi created bubble glass to satisfy his need for plastic forms. He also had a keen interest in ancient glass objects. He used them as models for a number of transparent pieces for which he required a type of material that would reproduce their solidity and opacity.”

Other particularly interesting items in Martinuzzi’s production for Venini include the series of fruit and vegetables that he designed from 1926 on. They were based on natural models including poppy fruits and sprouts and common vegetables (tomatoes, onions etc.). Also worth mentioning is the “bestiary” series made of pulegoso glass, glass paste, or cased glass with gold leaf and the series of succulent plants, inspired by natural models, made of pulegoso glass, generally green but at times black with a red glass-paste finish and surface iridescence. A personal interpretation of a theme fashionable in the late 1920s, these works were on a monumental scale and designed to be placed in public spaces as polychrome glass sculptures. One example is the succulent plant made of pulegoso glass, now in the Palazzo delle Poste, Bergamo. It will be on show (by courtesy of Poste Italiane) in Le Stanze del Vetro exhibition to illustrate the taste of an entire period. The delicate Flowering plant (Pianta Fiorita), designed in 1931 for the Fiore d’Arte Exhibition in Florence, will be on display together with it, courtesy of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Pinacoteca, Milan. Lastly, the series of Aquariums consists of transparent glass vases containing small opaque or transparent glass sculptures; some versions were intended to be bases for lamps.



The exhibition also explores the relationship between Martinuzzi and the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio, who commissioned the Murano artist to make not only sculptures but also works in glass. To illustrate their special bond and the artistic vision shared by these two personalities, the exhibition includes a reconstruction of one of the rooms in the Vittoriale by stage designer Pierluigi Pizzi, with some of the most significant works that Martinuzzi designed for the poet. They include a bright pumpkin made of incamiciato glass (the glass is covered by a second thin layer of dif-ferent coloured glass), which Martinuzzi designed specially for D’Annunzio’s residence, a vase with large ribbed handles, a large basket with fruit, a transparent blue glass cup and an elephant made of red vitreous paste. The exhibition will include a selection of period photographs and original drawings both of glass pieces and some monumental glass sculptures, such as the “statue” of a Dancer (1928) and the succulent plants shown at the first Quadriennale d’Arte di Roma (1931).

The exhibition itinerary will end in Le Stanze del Vetro video room, where the documentary Napoleone Martinuzzi. Mio Comandante will be shown. The film recounts the life of the Murano sculptor and the various stages of his involvement with major patrons. It also illustrates the development of 20th-century Italian sculpture, thus highlighting how Martinuzzi was deeply influenced – both in his art and life – by his own time. Produced by Pentagram Stiftung, the film is directed by Gian Luigi Calderone, who previously made the documentary Carlo Scarpa fuori dal paradiso (2012) especially for the exhibition Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947.For each of the future exhibitions in Le Stanze del Vetro project dedicated to the history of Venini and its designers, Gian Luigi Calderone will make a documentary film to illustrate the lives and personalities of those artists who collaborated with the celebrated glass company.

The catalogue, edited by Marino Barovier, is published by Skira.

The exhibition Napoleone Martinuzzi. 1925-1931 Venini will open on 8 September 2013 and will run until 1 December 2013. Opening times: from 10 am to 7 pm every day except Wednesday. Admission is free.

The free educational programmes for primary and secondary school students will continue during the exhibition, along with free guided tours for visitors to Le Stanze del Vetro. The educational programmes include activities and workshops enabling students of all levels to explore the history and significance of the art of glassmaking in Venice. Moreover, students are given the opportunity to make objects and take part in hands-on activities and discussions.Participation on the educational programme requires advanced booking by calling the toll-free number 800662477 (Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5 pm) or by email to: [email protected]. For detailed information on the many activities for different age groups: www.artsystem.it.



Napoleone Martinuzzi (1892-1977)

Biographical note

Napoleone Martinuzzi (1892-1977), the son of a glass furnace worker, was born on Murano, where he attended courses at the local drawing school. He subsequently fre-quented a ceramics workshop and then a terracotta and electrotyping works, in which he engaged in his first experiments in the plastic arts. In 1906 he enrolled in the Scuola Libera del Nudo in Venice, where he studied sculpture under Antonio Dal Zotto until 1909. At this time he began exhibiting at Ca’ Pesaro (1908-1910, 1913) and came into contact with Venetian avant-garde artists. In 1910 he followed Dal Zotto to Rome and met various sculptors, who involved him in their activities, such as Zanelli, who was working on the sculptures for the Altare della Patria, and Laurenti and Tonnini, engaged in designing the Valle Giulia Exhibition (1911). In 1914 he took part in the second ex-hibition of the Roman Secession. On his return to Venice in 1917, he met D’Annunzio with whom he established a long friendship based on mutual esteem, which was to exercise a profound influence on his career. The poet, who also became a collector and patron of Martinuzzi’s works, commissioned him to design a funeral monument for himself and his mother, to be placed at the mouth of the River Pescara. After various ups and downs, however, the project came to nothing. Martinuzzi’s relationship with D’Annunzio was to be a constant factor throughout his career.

In 1923 Martinuzzi was commissioned to design the Murano War Memorial, which was unveiled in 1927. He continued his exhibiting activities and developed a growing interest in glass, which led to him being appointed director of the Murano Glass Museum (1922-1931). In 1925 he was one of the founders of the “S.A.V.A.S”, which almost immediately merged with V.S.M. Venini & C. (1 June 1925). Having entered a partnership with Paolo Venini, from 1925 to January 1932, as Artistic Director of the furnace, he created new kinds of glass, and notably pulegoso, which had a texture of small bubbles. After his partnership with Venini ended, he continued working in the world of glass by founding, together with Francesco Zecchin, a new company, “Zecchin Martinuzzi Vetri Artistici e Mosaici” (1932-1936).

From the mid-1920s he often took part in the Venice Biennale, both as a member of the selection committee and as an exhibitor, mainly showing sculptures. He would continue to participate in the event on a regular basis until 1954. At the prompting of Cipriano Efisio Oppo, he exhibited at the first Direttorio Nazionale delle Arti and, in 1931, at the first Quadriennale d’Arte Nazionale in Rome, where some works made during his Venini days – monumental succulent plants and a fountain – were shown. Moreover, while he was collaborating with architects like Mazzoni in the decoration of public works, his sculptures featured in exhibitions abroad (1928-1935: Paris, Brussels, Bucharest, Vienna, Sofia and Budapest). Although he eventually focused on sculpture, in the post-war period he returned to glassmaking by collaborating with companies such as Alberto Seguso’s “Arte Vetro” (1947-1952), “Cenedese” (1953-1958) and, in the 1960s, “Pauly”.



Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925 – 1931

Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore8th September – 1st December 2013

Details of the event:

Production: Fondazione Giorgio Cini onlus and Pentagram StiftungTitle: Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925 – 1931 Curator: Marino BarovierOfficial opening: 7th September 2013, from 4 pm to 8 pm Press preview: 6th September 2013, from 12 am to 6 pmDates: September 8th – December 1st, 2013Open: 10 am – 7 pm, closed on WednesdaysVenue: Le Stanze del Vetro, Fondazione Giorgio CiniAddress: Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, VeniceTicket office: free admissionCatalogue: SkiraInfo: [email protected], [email protected]: www.lestanzedelvetro.it, www.cini.it

How to reach Le Stanze del Vetro:

To reach the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore you can take the Actv vaporetto (water bus) no. 2 to the San Giorgio stop from various starting points:

San Zaccaria (journey time approx. 3 minutes) Ferrovia (approx. 45 minutes) Piazzale Roma (approx. 40 minutes) Tronchetto (approx. 35 minutes)

Alternatively you can take the Vaporetto dell’Arte, which makes an “art tour” of the Grand Canal and also stops at San Giorgio. This regular service on the Grand Canal has been conceived for visitors who wish to experience Venice in an original, relaxing way.



Multimedia equipment on board provides audio and video information about the city and its art heritage on route.

Guided tours and education services:

For Le Stanze del Vetro project, the ArtSystem cultural association has designed re-ception services with selected staff, trained to conduct guided tours and workshop activities.

A wide range of topics will be proposed to school groups (from infant to high school), families with children, grandparents with grandchildren, Venetians and groups of glass lovers and scholars. The themes will include: the various aspects of glass, its fragility, its centuries-long association with the city of Venice, the imagination and skill of artists who have chosen it as a medium, Venice, the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, 20th-century developments, Murano, the master glassmakers, traditional legends and more recent stories, Venini and its recently rediscovered design archive.

A number of special events have been planned while the exhibition is on. Moreover, there will be a space dedicated to reading and a multimedia room which becomes a teaching room as required. These will be ideal places in which to continue to explore, see, experience, have fun and be amazed at one of the most delicate and exciting materials that can be shaped by human hands.

The exhibition guided tours service and the educational workshops are both free of charge. Required booking by telephone (toll free 800 662 477; 10 am – 5 pm, Monday to Friday) or email to [email protected].

For further information:

Le Stanze del VetroTommaso [email protected]: +39 041 5230869www.lestanzedelvetro.it

Fondazione Giorgio Cini Elena [email protected] T: +39 041 2710280 www.cini.it



Napoleone Martinuzzi From sculpture to glass, between tradition and innovation

by Marino Barovier Curator of the exhibition

Napoleone Martinuzzi (1892-1977) was one of the key figures of the golden age of Murano glass between the early 1920s and the eve of World War II. During that period, Murano glass was revived and reinvented by a number of accomplished artists and far-sighted entrepreneurs, that brought new fire to the old furnaces.

In the early 1920s things were gradually evolving in the world of Murano glass. The real breakthrough came when a new glassworks called V.S.M. Cappellin Venini & C. was established, with the painter Vittorio Zecchin as Artistic Director. The new furnace was set up by Murano antiquarian Giacomo Cappellin, and by lawyer Paolo Venini.In his capacity as the Artistic Director, Zecchin began designing light blown glass items in pale colours, drawing inspiration on the glass objects seen on famous Renaissance paintings by such painters as Titian, Paolo Veronese and others. The production of Cappellin Venini thus relinquished the artificial display of virtuosity that was still typical of contemporary glass (a legacy of the previous century) and became popular and suc-cessful thanks to its pure elegance and refined simplicity. A new trend had been set.

At that very same time Napoleone Martinuzzi, who had studied as sculptor, began to approach glassmaking by occasionally designing clear blown glass objects, some with enamel decoration, others with incisions representing wild animals, that were made by Andrea Rioda’s furnace and, after 1921, by Successori Andrea Rioda. In 1922 he was appointed as the new Director of the Murano Glass Museum and in 1923 he was commissioned with the design of the Murano war memorial. Meanwhile he maintained his ties with Gabriele d’Annunzio, who had met years before in Venice and who had ordered him a number of sculptures and shared his new passion for glass, as testified by the making of a glass door pane with floral and fish pattern deco-ration for the poet’s bedroom (1924) on a design by painter Guido Cadorin, whom he himself had introduced to d’Annunzio. The door pane was very much to d’Annunzio’s liking because of the red flowers, “A red beyond papal [...] and beyond royal”, and had been made by Successori Rioda.

Martinuzzi took to giving D’Annunzio glass items made by the same furnace as gifts, and the poet was so pleased by these presents that in October 1924 he wrote to Martinuzzi and made a rather vague proposal concerning some “Glass Company”. Now the contents of this proposal are not known, and it is unclear whether D’Annunzio was actually proposing to open a new glassworks.What is certain is that in 1925 Martinuzzi was involved in the establishment of a new furnace under the name of S.A.V.A.S. (Società in Accomandita Vetro Artistico Soffiato), along with his friend Francesco Zecchin (1894-1986) who was helping him on the War memorial project and Ruggero Maroni, the brother of Gian Carlo, the architect in charge of the Vittoriale project.

The company was created on April 22nd, 1925 and its existence has remained unknown until very recently. The new factory had a very short life and was soon merged with another company: in the late spring of that same year Giacomo Cappellin and Paolo Venini had parted ways and while Cappellin had established a new company



(M.V.M. Cappellin& C.) employing the same glassmakers he had in Cappellin Venini, Paolo Venini had remained with his qualification as a lawyer, the shops and the factory, but had no glassmakers left.V.S.M. Venini & C. was established on June 1st, 1925 by Paolo Venini, including among the founding members also Napoleone Martinuzzi.

Between 1926 and 1927 many glass items designed by Napoleone Martinuzzi and made by V.S.M. Venini & C. (colourful fruits, the famous internally-lit baskets, chandeliers etc.) were delivered to the Vittoriale, either as gifts by Martinuzzi or because D’Annunzio himself had ordered them. In 1928 the poet ordered a pumpkin-shaped lamp for his “Stanza della Musica”, but starting from that same year his meetings with Martinuzzi became less frequent, although some of the sculptor’s most impressive glass creations became part of D’Annunzio’s collection after that point in time (e.g. the pulegoso glass vase with ten handles presented at the Monza Triennale in 1930).

The remarkable entrepreneurial abilities of Paolo Venini, along with his open mind and understanding of art, made his cooperation with Martinuzzi extremely fruitful. Their ambitious glassworks project achieved extraordinary success as the result of their individual contributions and mutual appreciation.Martinuzzi began his work as the artistic director of V.S.M. Venini & C. in 1925, by completing a line of clear blown glass items already devised by Vittorio Zecchin, for Cappellin Venini, that remained in the glassworks’ catalogue.In designing his own items he mainly followed into Zecchin’s footsteps. He revisited some of the painter’s models and then drew on the repertoire of Murano glass tradi-tion, a selection of which was available at the local Glass Museum. He designed many stem goblets (mainly baluster-shaped) with a large disc-foot joining the stem through a knot-like element. Most of them featured thick open-mould ornamental ribbing.Martinuzzi was particularly interested in volumes, and he resorted to the above technique for various other objects of his including cups and vases, that he would sometimes produce in large sizes and/or with applied handles.

Alternatively, he resorted to an ancient ornamental technique called meza stampaura.Invented during the 15th century meza stampaura involved inserting a glass hemi-sphere into the bottom of a hot blown glass pulegoso and shaping the hemisphere with an open mold so as to obtain different forms of ribbing.Some clear blown glass items were presented at the 15th Venice Biennale in 1926, while a really wide selection of Martinuzzi’s objects was exhibited in 1927 at the Monza Triennale.

V.S.M. Venini & C. also took part in the exhibition and had various objects on display both in two double-sided showcases placed between the atrium and reception hall on the first “noble” floor of Villa Reale and in the Labirinto hall, normally used by a club established to the purpose of “promoting modern artistic decoration in home interiors”. The club counted Paolo Venini and Gio Ponti among its members, along with others.

Numerous fruits made by V.S.M. Venini & C. since 1926 were also exhibited in Monza. Martinuzzi had devised them in clear and opaque glass (cased and/or glass paste). Their colours and colour combinations were extraordinary.During the next few years Martinuzzi’s research lead to the creation of the first pulegoso glass items, exhibited at the 16th Venice Biennale in 1928.They had a previously unseen semiopaque texture with plenty of bubbly inclusions (puleghe) obtained by adding sodium bicarbonate or oil to the incandescent raw glass.



Being a sculptor, Martinuzzi created pulegoso glass to satisfy his need for plasticity, and mainly proposed it uncoloured or in different shades of green. He also had a keen interest in ancient glass, the shapes of which he had already revisited in a number of transparent items, and needed a type of material that would reproduce its solidity and opacity. He came up with pulegoso glass while studying 19th-century pearl-glass chandeliers with long bubbly inclusions made by Barovier glassmakers and preserved at the Murano glass museum.Using this new kind of glass Martinuzzi made thick glass items in archaic shapes, imitating ancient amphoras and cups he had seen on pictures of British Museum exhibits, currently preserved in the Venini archives.

If pulegoso glass made it possible to produce new items that harnessed the most recent trends in the field of interior design, it also enabled Martinuzzi to devise a particularly challenging sculpture like the Dancer, presented in Venice in 1928 at the glassmakers’ show. The statue was conceived like a sort of large mannequin (about 2.5 metre tall), was inspired by the famous dancer Joséphine Baker and was made like a majestic Murano glass chandelier, by fixing individual elements onto a metal frame-work. It consisted of green pulegoso glass with red glass finishing and was exhibited in the Autumn of that same year at the Paris Salon d’Automne, where it received very positive feedback and was featured in many reviews.

Completely different in terms of size and subject were the different animals (little uncoloured pulegoso glass horses and piglets) published in Domus in Septem-ber 1929. Martinuzzi had presented three clear blown glass animals with pulegoso or filigree decoration back at the 16th Venice Biennale in 1928, a new line in the glassworks’ production. Martinuzzi’s personal research for intrinsic plasticity becomes apparent in this very lively series of animal shapes in pulegoso glass, glass paste, or cased glass with gold leaf.

The “Studio Glass” category clearly includes the pulegoso glass succulent plants that were presented in Domus in February 1929. Succulents definitely rank among the most original of Martinuzzi’s creations. In making them, he harnessed and interpreted a trend of the 1920s.

An almost complete series of Succulent Plants – including those in black glass and red glass paste – was showcased at the 4th Monza Triennale (1930), both in the Glass Gallery and on top of furniture in the various halls. And indeed Venini showcased an enormous variety of clear, pulegoso and opaque glass (both cased and mixed). In that very same year, the latter obtained its first enthusiastic feedback, especially in Monza, but also at the Venice Biennale.

Venini shared the Glass Gallery with other factories, and there it also exhibited glass animals and its new Aquariums –clear glass vases containing small and mostly multicolour glass sculptures– mixed glass centrepieces and very particular wall decoration elements devised as a sort of bubble glass relief work or “tiles with molded decoration”. Particularly remarkable was the new pulegoso glass series with handles, rams or relief decoration with gold leaf. One of these items had ten handles and became part of Gabriele d’Annunzio’s collection at the Vittoriale. The presence of these items, along with opaque glass objects, started a debate on the nature of Murano glass. The output of other factories was also discussed.

Three more beautiful monumental green pulegoso glass plants were exhibited, along with the Thistle, at the 1st Rome Quadriennale in 1931 and were used to decorate



Pietro Aschieri’s Rotunda inside the restored Palace of Exhibitions, where Martinuzzi also installed a shining fountain. In the same year, on the occasion of the Florence Mostra del Fiore d’Arte, Martinuzzi proposed a more traditional blossoming plant in clear and cased glass.A monumental succulent plant similar to those exhibited at the Rome Quadriennale, was placed inside the Bergamo Post Office (designed by Angiolo Mazzoni) between 1931 and 1932.

And indeed since 1929 Venini had started a fruitful cooperation with the architect Mazzoni, possibly because of the fact that the latter (who at the time was in charge of big public projects like post offices) appreciated Martinuzzi’s art. Mazzoni turned to Venini and Martinuzzi while he was looking for lighting solutions for the Ferrara Post Office, the building for the Dopolavoro Ferroviario in Rome and in the Bergamo Post Office.

Martinuzzi worked with Paolo Venini until January 28th, 1932, when the company was wound up.Shortly thereafter, in August 1932, Martinuzzi and Francesco Zecchin set up a factory of their own (Società Zecchin-Martinuzzi Vetri Artistici e Mosaici) and the artist went on to produce small glass sculptures representing female figures.During his short professional experience with Venini (1925-1931), Martinuzzi was extremely refined in the way he harnessed contemporary trends while at the same time creatively investigating the untapped expressive potential of vitreous matter. His contribution to the history of 20th-century Murano glass was fundamental.



Venini and the spirit of avant-garde

by Marie-Rose Kahane Chairman of Pentagram Stiftung

During the last 12 months Pentagram Stiftung has had a busy schedule of activities and initiatives: we have given support to a number of artists’ projects, exhibitions and catalogue publications relating to glass, organized symposia, collected additional ma-terial for the fast growing and dynamic archives of the “Centro Studi del Vetro” at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, and are working on a variety of new projects for 2014.

It is now for the third time that Le Stanze del Vetro will open its doors to the public. The space projected by Annabelle Selldorf has proven to be wonderfully flexible and adaptable.

In 1925 Napoleone Martinuzzi, a sculptor born in Murano, was appointed as new Artistic Director of the firm Venini in which he became a partner of Paolo Venini. The new concept of hiring architects, designers or artists as artistic directors, as opposed to continuing the artisanal Muranese traditions would shape Venini’s formidable adven-ture with the most innovative 20th-century glassmaking/design.

Pentagram Stiftung and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini (through its Study Centre for Glass) have put a lot of effort into exploring and researching Martinuzzi’s work and his role as the Artistic Director for the firm – a dedicated symposium brought together many interesting papers, some of which are published in the catalogue that accompa-nies the exhibition curated so admirably by Marino Barovier. Martinuzzi is well known for his humorous glass animals and decorative plants, colorful fruits and vegetables using new glass techniques, such as pulegoso glass, and for the numerous works he made for his friend, the poet Gabriele D’Annuzio, for the Vittoriale. What has also been explored here are the commissions for monumental glass sculptures for public spaces, such as train stations or post offices, and the development of the fast growing area of lighting during his time at Venini .

Beyond analyzing and organizing Martinuzzi’s work by linking each piece to its source, “black” and “blue” catalogues, furnace drawings, historical photographs at the various Biennali, Triennali and Quadriennali, there has also been a thorough survey of the his-tory of pre-War Italy and its impact on Murano. It is the Stiftung’s aim to explore the history of glassmaking, not purely as an isolated event but in order to understand its connections with literature, music, arts and politi-cal/historical events.

During Martinuzzi’s time at Venini one can see the beginning of a close dynamic between public architectural projects and the use of glass. Paolo Venini’s strong links and affinities with the avant-garde Milanese design circles (“Il Labirinto”) would bring an air of modernity to the Muranese production. In this new chapter of the Venini history we can read again the relentless strive to excellence in terms of design, technique and production under the guidance of the visionary and open minded Venini.

A remarkable documentary directed by Gian Luigi Calderone illustrates the complex background of the Martinuzzi’s years at Venini and brings to light not only the glass designer but also the sculptor, Museum Director and public figure.



A triumph of the senses

by Pasquale Gagliardi Secretary General of the Giorgio Cini Foundation

Anyone who thought that a series of exhibitions on Venetian art glass might run the risk of being repetitive – or that after the Carlo Scarpa – Venini exhibition inaugurating Le Stanze del Vetro, any other exhibition could only be in a minor key – will surely change their mind on seeing Napoleone Martinuzzi’s extraordinary glass sculptures. It’s amazing to think that the same material can produce such a variety of works and be so fascinating in such different ways. On reading the essays in this catalogue, one is struck by the recurrent references to sensorial experiences, or the desire for senso-rial experiences – not only visual but also gustative, tactile and olfactory experiences. The principal feature of these glass works is the opulence of their texture, colour and form: the “fat” plants, “succulent” glass or fruit that Gabriele d’Annunzio, for example, “relished” without ever being “sated”. Martinuzzi usually doesn’t invent perfectly abstract forms. He de-forms and transfigures objects, vegetables, plants, flowers, animals and figures, which irresistibly allure the onlooker into an astounding, bewildering fantastic universe – a stunning triumph of the senses.

The overall effect of the exhibition isn’t simply due to the artist’s creativity. Making Martinuzzi’s fantastic universe accessible and enjoyable has required patient, meticulous work, involving ‘ordering’ and reconstructing the subtle weave of relations between the various media and techniques, occasions, commissions and stages in his artistic development. The exhibition is therefore the outcome of long, rigorous methodi-cal work and is based on two crucial elements. The first is an international conference on Napoleone Martinuzzi’s art and life, promoted and organised last June by the Cen-tre for the Study of Glass (newly created within the Institute of Art History at the Giorgio Cini Foundation); many papers given on that occasion have enhanced this catalogue. The second crucial element is the sure hand of Marino Barovier. He has steered the project through waters full of hazards and with his usual skill unravelled the tangle of issues involved in selecting, attributing, cataloguing and interpreting the works. Also on behalf of President Bazoli and the members of the Cini Foundation Board of Directors, I should like to express my deep gratitude to the exhibition Curator and all the collaborators at the Cini Foundation and Pentagram Stiftung. They have again successfully created an atmosphere of cooperation and dedication, a prerequisite for adding this third brilliant gem to Le Stanze del Vetro’s ever growing showcase of the art of glass.



The Study Centre for Glass

The Study Centre for Glass is one of the initiatives set up as part of a long-term project entitled Le Stanze del Vetro, launched by the Giorgio Cini Foundation and Pentagram Stiftung. Its principal aim is to promote 20th-century Venetian glass.

The initiative is in keeping with the Cini tradition. Since its creation, the Foundation has shown a keen interest in the art of glassmaking. Vittorio Cini was a collector of Murano glass pieces, which are now part of the art heritage of the Giorgio Cini Foundation. The Foundation’s interest in glass was previously highlighted by the large exhibition Gli artisti di Venini (1996). Moreover, documents concerning glass can also be found in the various archives kept on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. They include, for example, the celebrated correspondence between Gabriele d’Annunzio and Napoleone Martinuzzi, a major designer of 20th-century Murano glass. Their correspondence is kept in the Centre for Study and Documentary Research into European Theatre and Opera.

The Giorgio Cini Foundation Study Centre for Glass has been open since April 2012 with the aim of providing an important resource for the international community of glass experts. The Centre will promote various kinds of activities: the creation of a General Archive of Venetian Glass, which over the years will bring together the Murano glassmaking companies’ historical archives, mainly made up of drawings, projects, correspondences and photographic reproductions, which will be made available to scholars and experts for the purposes of reviving and developing the art of glassmaking; the assembling of a specialised glass library; the organisation of seminars, conferences and workshops for scholars and artists interested in the history, technology and developments in the art of glassmaking; and the staging of periodic exhibitions.

The Study Centre for Glass Archive and Library are open for consultation, by appoint-ment only, from Monday to Friday: 9.30 am – 1 pm; 2 pm – 5 pm.

For InformationCentro Studi del VetroIstituto di Storia dell’ArteFondazione Giorgio Cini onlusIsola di San Giorgio MaggioreTel.: +39 041 [email protected]



Exhibited Works

Transparent glass, 1925-1931Transparent blown glass was a typical and almost exclusive product of Murano glassworks until about 1928, when the first opaque glass, that was soon to become extremely popular, was produced. Most of the glass designed by Napoleone Martinuzzi in his capacity as the Artistic Director of V.S.M. Venini & C. consisted of clear and transparent vases, cups and goblets, devised between 1925 and 1927. Martinuzzi had been in charge of designing the col-lections of the new glassworks since 1925. Born out of the ashes of Cappellin Venini, V.S.M. Venini & C. still maintained in its catalogue items previously designed by Vittorio Zecchin, mainly light-coloured blown glass drawing inspiration from the Italian Renaissance. Martinuzzi retained the approach of Vittorio Zecchin and revisited some of his designs, while at the same time rediscovering the tradition of blown glass, which he could study at the Glass Museum in Murano (he had been the museum’s Director since 1922). In his production he would mainly focus on volumes, and his items are often larger than the real-life model and/or feature open-mold ribbing, waists or applied glass-thread decoration. He also relied on ancient decora-tion techniques as meza stampaura and filigrana, which by the way earned him enthusiastic feedback at the 3rd Monza Biennale. A wide and representative collection of his works was displayed in Monza, which attracted many a positive review including that of Roberto Papini, who wrote that “The art of Murano glass had achieved new unexpected developments” (Papini 1927). Transparent glass comes in the following colours: amethyst, dark blue, dark green, light green, aquamarine, straw-coloured, smoke-grey, dark red.

Fruits, 1926-1930Around 1926 Martinuzzi sent Gabriele d’Annunzio a number of glass fruits. The renowned Ital-ian poet seemed to appreciate the gift (“Your fruits delighted me, and yet did not sate me”) and ordered a further “Six internally-lit baskets”, inviting Martinuzzi to lavish his colours “the Vene-tian way”. The gift included a series of items in realistic shapes, designed by Vittorio Zecchin for Cappellin Venini and exhibited in Paris in 1922. It remained part of the V.S.M. Venini catalogues in the new colour versions by Martinuzzi. Around 1926 Martinuzzi also designed a number of extraordinary glass fruits, based on natural models including poppy fruits and sprouts and common vegetables (tomatoes, onions etc.). He made them in vividly coloured opaque matter, e.g. cased glass or glass paste, often in unseen combinations, with gold leaf or with iridescent finish, as shown by the designer’s margin notes on furnace drawings. A wide array of these fruits was exhibited at the 3rd Monza Biennale (1927) where they were spread around in dif-ferent rooms and placed next to transparent glass. Candied grapes and mushrooms date to 1930. They are more realistic but their colours are made less plausible by the use of gold leaf.



Pulegosi, 1928-1930The most original and recent output of Martinuzzi’s research in the field of bubble (pulegoso) glass was showcased at the 16th Venice Biennale in 1928. The glass he used was spongy and opaque, with plenty of bubbly inclusions (puleghe). It was previously unknown and obtained by adding sodium bicarbonate or oil to the incandescent raw glass. Being a sculptor, Martinuzzi created bubble glass to satisfy his need for plasticity. He also had a keen interest in ancient glass, the shapes of which he had already revisited in a number of transparent items, and needed a type of material that would reproduce its solidity and opacity. He came up with bubble glass while studying late 19th-century glass chandeliers with long bubbly inclusions made by Artisti Barovier and preserved at the Murano Glass Museum, of which he was the Director between 1922 and 1931. Using the same technique, he made thick glass items in archaic shapes recalling ancient amphoras and cups, some of which in very large sizes. A second series of bubble glass models, in deeper colours, was displayed at the glass gallery of the 4th Monza Triennale (1930). This second series featured loop handles, rams or relief decoration with gold leaf. One of them had ten loop handles and became part of Gabriele d’Annunzio’s collection at the Vittoriale, where it has remained ever since. Bubble glass came in: greenish colour; light-blue green or sea-green; dark green; sapphire; crystal with sapphire or green finish; possible surface iridisation.

Animals, 1927-1931The first glass animals by Martinuzzi were exhibited at the 15th Venice Biennale in 1928, where animals by Ercole Barovier were also shown. Martinuzzi’s transparent glass Ducks, Rabbit and Pelican were highly praised by Gio Ponti in Domus (February 1929) who described them as “particular and grotesque” and typical of “Napoleone Martinuzzi’s artistic temperament, whose skills as a glass designer match, to say the least, those as a sculptor; his glass production indeed rivals his sculptures. Martinuzzi can literally forge fragile glass with the same power and plasticity he is known to have achieved in his vigorous bronze sculptures”. Martinuzzi’s personal research for intrinsic plasticity becomes apparent in this very lively series of animal shapes in bubble glass, glass paste, or cased glass with gold leaf. Colourful elephants, highly expressive or even oversimplified horses, elegant pheasants and a wide variety of small little birds: Martinuzzi’s ability to interpret this subject seemed to have no limit.

Succulent Plants, 1929-1930Succulent Plants definitely rank among the most original of Martinuzzi’s creations. In mak-ing them, he harnessed and interpreted a trend of the 1920s. His first Succulent Plants were presented in Domus in February 1929, while the (almost) entire series was exhibited at the 4th Monza Triennale in 1930, both in the Glass Gallery and on top of furniture in the various halls. Succulent plants typically consisted of one vase, normally featuring twisted ribbing, and a ribbed stem hosting a vegetal “structure” or “crown”, the shape of which varied according to the model. Martinuzzi designed the crowns sometimes imitating the natural model, while other times reinventing it with great freedom, which led to innovative results. Some plants can be categorized according to the principles of botany, although Martinuzzi never pursued accurate realism; other plants were simply inspired by Karl Blossfeldt‘s Urformen der Kunst (Berlin 1928), a book of photographs originally conceived as teaching material for the author’s students at the Berliner Kunsthochschule. The book featured a collection of plant details including shaveg-rass tips, sprouts and curled leaves that had attracted the author’s attention and stimulated his imagination. Succulent Plants were made of (generally green) pulegoso glass, but some were of black glass with red glass paste finish and surface iridisation.

Flowers, 1927-1931Martinuzzi’s production also includes traditional glass flowers and a number of “blossoming” centrepieces, mainly documented by office and furnace designs and contemporary photo-graphs. Dating back to 1927 are two sketches of transparent and opaque glass blossoming branches, where the buds take the shape of poppy capsules or small cobs. These elements



had been separately devised by Martinuzzi as independent fruits. Other long-stemmed flowers were later designed upon specific commission and were to be included in the glassworks’ cat-alogue. Examples of this include the Murano 225/1436 commission (1930-31) and the flowers designed for Benello, Venini’s agent in New York (around 1931). The designs were realistic and were normally conceived for execution in opaque glass. The items designed for the Murano 225/1436 commission, were made in different colour variations and evocative colour combi-nations. A number of these models (carnation, tulip and “water flower”) were exhibited at the Florence Mostra del Fiore d’Arte in 1931. A centrepiece consisting of a bowl containing dai-sies in different colours was also designed for this occasion. Showcases moreover contained another kind of centrepiece consisting of different groups of flowers arranged as a single entity.These flowers can probably be dated to 1929, had horizontal stems, came in different varieties and were used as interior decoration either in groups or as single items.

Filigree glass, around 1929A significant selection of filigrana glass items was shown in 1929 at the Barcelona International Art Exhibition. The series bore a serial number starting with 8000 and had been presented in Le Tre Venezie that same year. It included: vases and bowls made with vertical rods of filigrana, in turn consisting of very colourful and diversely intertwined wire, and reticello (netlike) filigrana bowls. The vases were made using a 16th-century technique that had been rediscovered by Pietro Bigaglia around 1850. Many colourful works by Bigaglia were kept at the Murano Glass Museum, where Martinuzzi had had a chance to study them. This particular technique relied on clear glass rods with lattimo (milky) glass or coloured glass core consisting of a single thread (straight, wavy or twisted) or two or more intertwined threads. Rods are placed next to eachother on a metal plate and inserted in a furnace at 700 degrees Celsius where they melt into a single glass texture. The newly formed glass is then collected and shaped into a cylinder, to be subsequently blown into and modelled as desired. A sophisticated variation on the same theme, filigrana a reticello means filigrana glass with intertwined rods. This type of glass is ob-tained by blowing into each other two half spheres consisting of straight core filigrana arranged in a spiralling pattern. When the two half spheres are joined, the coming together of two sepa-rate thread structures with opposite patterns creates a diamond-like pattern in the middle and leaves a small air bubble trapped in each “diamond”. In some cases, Martinuzzi gave reticello bowls also a moulded ribbing.

Opaque, 1930-1931Opaque glass was presented in 1930 both at the Venice Biennale and at the 4th Monza Trien-nale. This category includes both cased and/or mixed glass items. Cased glass means thin glass with a lattimo base clad in a transparent coloured glass layer. Martinuzzi had already re-sorted to this technique for his coloured fruits (1926-1930) and he gradually began using it for vases and bowls too as it enabled him to make extraordinary glass in lively and intense colours. Mixed glass was devised by Martinuzzi as a way of obtaining multicoloured streaks and thus imitating the colour of gemstones (e.g. malachite green). Mixed glass was used to make vases and bowls but also to add colourful finishing touches to cased glass items. A series starting with no. 10500 was designed using this kind of glass, and is mainly documented by furnacedrawings. Additional new models were also proposed, and no. 3256 even made it on the front cover of Domus in October 1930.

Centerpieces, around 1930Two mixed glass centrepieces were exhibited in the Glass Gallery of the 1930 Monza Triennale, each consisting of one main piece and a number of interchangeable place markers, represent-ing a total of 16 different subjects. One main piece consisted of a rampant sea-horse standing on a group of four shells, the other of a group of three dolphins on a fluted column-like base. Place markers were divided in two different series in the Blue Catalogue, and consist of a base supporting a creature, a coral or a mermaid; alternatively, a base supporting a vase hosting succulent plants or fruits derived from Martinuzzi’s repertoire for Venini. The latter clearly betray



Martinuzzi’s source of inspiration, i.e. the core of a majestic 18th-century centrepiece kept at the Murano Glass Museum, freely and effectively revisited by the artist. As indicated by mar-gin notes on furnace drawings (see in particular no. 10304, 10305, 10307, 10308), the artist experimented with a number of glass types (bubble glass, cased glass, gold-shaded glass, mixed glass), before he finally opted for mixed glass, probably because its streaks recalled the aspect of gemstones (and “Gemstone” is the name of this series in the Blue Catalogue), especially malachite and lapis lazuli. The same centrepiece was made also of bubble glass and subsequently of uncoloured glass with gold leaf and uncoloured/lattimo glass.

Aquariums, around 1930In 1930, Martinuzzi presented at the 17th Venice Biennale and the 4th Monza Triennale a novel and extraordinary type of models: a series of transparent glass vases containing little opaque or transparent glass sculptures. Originally meant to be filled with water, they were named Aquariums. Described by Enrico Paulucci in La casa bella (October 1930) as “strange mouths where the changing reflections of water, glass and coral gather” Aquariums were exhibited at the Monza Triennale also as lamp supports. A source of light on top of the item would basically highlight the quality of materials and colours of the small sculptures inside the vase, and cast an evocative light upon them. To decorate these vases, the artist tapped into most of his rep-ertoire of plastic figures (plants, creatures, etc.) and gave them intense colours. Alternatively, he proposed particular forms of abstract decoration, as an uncoloured glass rod wrapped in a coral-red thread or an irregular sequence of uncoloured glass bubbles. As an April fool joke, in 1928 he devised an item that could be used as a chandelier and consisted of a clear glass goblet containing a fish that was placed next to the candle holder. Martinuzzi probably contin-ued to develop the idea of creatures inside vases until he came up with the Aquariums.

Figures, 1930-1931Between 1930 and 1931 Martinuzzi took to making mythological female figures like mermaids, treating his new subject almost like a sculpture. His first attempt dates to 1930, when he made a mermaid barely touching a lump of seaweed attached to a truncated cone base. The same subject was used in one of the Aquariums (no. 10809) that were exhibited in Monza (1930) and in Amsterdam (Vetri, Ceramiche e Merletti d’Arte Moderna Italiana, 1931). An additional glass mermaid on sea waves, with a more essential design and probably made of red glass paste with gold leaf was exhibited in Amsterdam. In another contemporary mermaid (no. 2547), the female figure had undergone further simplification: her limbs had turned into a sort of scroll and the mermaid almost seems to be dancing on the waves. The mermaid is also found, along with a swordfish and an arrow, in a small series of decorative glass items that are documented by furnace drawings.

Glass elements for wall decoration, around 1930Glass elements for wall decoration were showcased at the 4th Monza Triennale in 1930. They were made of sapphire or green bubble glass and placed inside four arrays of vertical slots. It was a sort of relief work and it featured 28 different subjects (most of the creatures and plants already designed for Venini). These items can be viewed as an attempt to combine sculptureand serial production. The same applies to the decorative plates shown at the same exhibition, both as wall decoration and as light-diffusing screens for very particular lamps on display in the Lighting Gallery. The tiles were molded and featured four different decoration patterns: Penelo-pe Abandoned, Wounded Gazelle, Canephora and Fish. Penelope Abandoned was no novelty in Martinuzzi’s repertoire, but the idea of shaping this subject in glass brought new life to the principles of classical antiquity. And that in spite of the clear and recurrent reference to An-toine Bourdelle. The Gazelle was a typical theme for sculptors. Other colleagues of Martinuzzi were working on animal shapes: Siro Tofanari, for instance, had devoted obsessive attention to gazelles and had gone as far as producing the flat sculptures he presented in his own hall at the 1928 Venice Biennale. Canephoras begun to appear in Martinuzzi’s production in 1926 when he made one (a sculpture) for his friend, the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio, to be placed at



the Vittoriale; he would revisit this subject in 1933 and much later. Now only the Canephora’s face was to be visible on the tile, which required Martinuzzi to draw on his knowledge of artistic pottery, which he had acquired during his training. The fourth and possibly most interesting tile represents a fish. This tile may well be the result of Martinuzzi’s flattening another one of his creations for Venini (dolphins). But this fish really looks bizarre. Japan was a common source of inspiration at the time and Martinuzzi’s fish could somewhat recall the koi carp, the so called dragon fish he might have seen at the Venice Museum of Oriental Art. But it also looks like a goby, a fish normally found in the sea around Venice, that Martinuzzi may well have encoun-tered on multiple occasions over lunch.

Lighting, 1926-1930Decorative items for illumination, ca. 1929. Drawing on the properties of bubble glass, in 1929 Martinuzzi designed a small series of models with a light source placed inside the base and/or the object itself. For the sake of artistic variation, he combined a fish with a fantastic underwater rock decorated with coloured glass thread, and he designed three different columns and a number of leaves with coloured glass profiles coming out of what looked like a vase. The existence of a special series designed for DIM, Venini’s agent in Paris clearly shows these objects were also devised to cater for the needs of the French market, where they were very successful.Lighting at the great exhibitions, 1926-1931. When participating in large art and decorative art exhibitions, Venini showcased also a number of large chandeliers specifically designed by Martinuzzi, that were later to be included in the company’s catalogue. At some shows, Venini exhibited wall lamps, table lamps and suspended lamps designed by Martinuzzi for home use. At least until 1927, the artist used transparent glass exclusively. Later on (1928-29) bubble glass items became very widespread, and by 1930 cased glass lamps and chandeliers had also become a frequent occurrence, as evidenced by the wide array of such items showcased in the Lighting Gallery of the 4th Monza Triennale.

Special projects, 1926-1931On behalf of V.S.M. Venini & C. Napoleone Martinuzzi also designed a number of remarkable special projects, including: 1926, clear glass fountain, 15th Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, Venice; 1927, clear glass fountain, 2nd Mostra Nazionale d’Arte Marinara, Rome; 1928, bubble glass chandeliers, Casa Madre dei Mutilati, Rome, architect Marcello Piacentini; 1929, Dancer, bubble glass statue, Mostra dei Vetrai, Venice Lido; 1930, majestic bubble glass thistle, 4th Esposizione Triennale Internazionale delle Arti Decorative ed Industriali Moderne, Monza; 1931, four monumental bubble glass Succulent Plants, 1st Quadriennale d’Arte Nazionale, Rome; 1931, opaque glass fountain, 1st Quadriennale d’Arte Nazionale, Rome; 1931, great clear and opaque glass blossoming plant, Mostra del Fiore d’Arte, Florence; 1929-30, lamps and chan-deliers for the Dopolavoro Ferroviario in Rome, architect Angiolo Mazzoni; 1929-30, opaque glass lamps and internally-lit fountains, Palazzo delle Poste, Ferrara, architect Angiolo Maz-zoni.

Martinuzzi’s glass at the VittorialeThe Vittoriale (1921-1938) is a complex of buildings in Gardone Riviera on the shore of Lake Garda conceived and built by Gabriele d’Annunzio (1863-1938) and by the architect Giancarlo Maroni as a sort of memorial to his life as a poet and a soldier and to the heroic deeds of Ital-ians during the First World War. “[…] All here is created and transfigured by me, all here bears the hallmark of my style, meaning that I want to imbue its style with my love for Italy, my cult of memory, my aspiration to heroism, my prescience of the fatherland to come, all of which are manifest in every search for a line, in every harmony and dissonance of colour. All here is thus a form of my mind, a facet of my soul, proof of my fervour [...]”. The poet as decorator arranges his compositions choosing his elements as words are chosen for his writings. Many items designed by Napoleone Martinuzzi are currently kept at the Vittoriale. Some were commis-sioned to the sculptor, others were gifts of his to the poet.



Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925–1931Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Exhibition sponsored byFondazione Giorgio Cini and Pentagram Stiftung

Le Stanze del VetroA joint initiative of Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Pentagram Stiftung

Scientific CommitteeMarino BarovierRosa Barovier MentastiLaura de SantillanaDavid LandauNico Stringa

Coordination ManagementFondazione Giorgio Cini and Pentagram StiftungMaria Novella Benzoni

Fondazione Giorgio Cini(non-profit institution)

ChairmanGiovanni Bazoli

Secretary GeneralPasquale Gagliardi

Facility coordination and managementMaria Novella BenzoniErica Galvan

Technical departmentMassimo AltieriAdriano LonghinGloria Pasqualetto



Marketing and communication departmentEmilio QuintèSerena ConconeGiovanna Pesaro

Press officeElena Casadoro

ManagementAndrea ErriMichele Ballarin

Istituto di Storia dell’ArteCoordination managementSimone Guerriero

Centro Studi del VetroMatteo Gardonio

Pentagram Stiftung

ChairmanMarie-Rose Kahane

Head of cultural projectsFrancesca Nisii

Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925–1931

Exhibition curated and catalogue edited byMarino Barovier

Exhibition projectMarino Barovier

Scientific research and coordinationCarla Sonego

Catalogue graphic projectStudio Tapiro Camplani + Pescolderung

Editorial coordination and layoutEttore BelliniFrancesca TiengoEnrico Fiorese

PhotographsEttore Bellini

Head of conservationLuisa Mensi



Organisational coordinationLaura Corazzol – ArtSystemClaudia Roma, assistant

Communication managerTommaso Speretta – ArtSystemSerena Luce, assistant

Educational projectAnna Fornezza – ArtSystem

Graphic design of communication materialsL+LAD3 Comunicazione

Art directorLaura de Santillana

Web designOLEXTommaso Speretta

Exhibition set-up designSelldorf ArchitectsF. Cattaruzza and F. Millosevich Architetti Associati

Il Vittoriale degli Italiani Room Set-upPier Luigi Pizzi

VideosGianluigi CalderoneAntonio Pintus

Exhibition set-upOTT ART prodotti per l’arteGiacomo Andrea Doria

Exhibition lighting designAlessandro Diaz de SantillanaFontanaArteOTT ART

TransportsApice - Venezia

InsuranceMarine & Aviation JLT – Divisione Fine-ArtAlberto Magni

Reception and securityIniziative VeneteRoberto De Zorzi

Technical sponsorshipArtSystem

Educational project curated by Artsystem cultural association

In the exhibition Napoleone Martinuzzi. Venini 1925-1931 too the free educational programs

for students from primary to secondary school will be curated by Artsystem as well as free

guided tours for the visitors of Le Stanze del Vetro. Sundays workshops for families and

special guided tours for people aged 18-25 will be also available.

Thanks to the fantasy and creativity of his artworks, the sculptor will guide children into a glass

world made of brilliant colours, which let them play just by looking at it (Preeschool and primary

school activities: Napoleone Martinuzzi = fantasy and creativity. Let’s try it!). Instead teenagers

will be introduced to the techniques used and the creative talent – inspired by the history – to

create the work of art (Secondary school activities: Napoleone Martinuzzi = fond of sculpture, in

love with glass).

The educational programs will include activities and workshops, during which teenagers and

children will discover not only the shapes, the colours and the material, but also the history and the

importance of the art of glassmaking in Venice, producing artifacts and participating in laboratory

activities and discussions.

Teachers are invited in the afternoon of Friday 4th October to the presentation of the educational

program 2013-2014:

From Napoleone Martinuzzi to the contemporary design…through your class!

Writing, poetry, drawing, music, art will be the instruments to grasp the content of the exhibition

and melt them with school projects for new stories to be created, Stories for a Year.

Artsystem widens its offer with Sundays theme workshops for families (SUNglassDAY: Sunday

27th October; 10th and 24th November 2013 from 16p.m.) and a special tour for people aged 18-25

(MELTDOWN!… every Friday afternoon of November).

Booking is required to take part in every activity by calling the toll-free number 800662477

(Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5 pm) or by sending an email to: [email protected].

For detailed information on the many activities for different age groups: www.artsystem.it.

www.artsystem.it San Polo 2296 – 30125 VENEZIA [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Skira editore spa Palazzo Casati Stampavia Torino 61 20123 Milanot. +39 02.72.444.1f. +39 02.72.444.219www.skira.net

Registro SocietàMilano 0346905volume 00008515fascicolo 05CCIAA 1451189

capitale sociale€ 3.000.000Società per azioni con unico socioai sensi dell’art. 2362 cod. civ.partita iva/cod fiscale11282450151

Lucia CrespiUfficio stampa Skiravia Francesco Brioschi 21 20136 Milanot. +39 02.89.41.55.32+39 02.89.40.16.45f. +39 [email protected]

Exhibitions

Marino Barovier

Napoleone MartinuzziVenini 1925-1931

Napoleone Martinuzzi, an artist held in high esteem by poet Gabriele d’Annunzio, becamea partner of Paolo Venini in 1925. In his capacity as the artistic director of V.S.M. Venini& C. he designed marvelous objects until 1931.This book reviews his entire production as a glass designer, consisting of about 600 worksidentified after lengthy and thorough research.Unpublished records in the Archivio Storico Venini have allowed researchers to appreciatethe full extent of Martinuzzi’s contribution to the factory’s production and to identifymany of his designs, some of which were previously unknown.After devising elegant clear blown glass objects, the artist went on to explore previouslyunseen matter like bubble glass and opaque glass in intense and solid colours.In so doing Martinuzzi designed a wide repertoire of vases, cups, lights, and peculiar decorative objects like fruits, coloured glass creatures and succulent plants, some of whichwere monumental in size.The book contains a wide range of period photographs, signed designs and factory drawings.

2013, Italian and English editions28 x 30 cm, 480 pages

1780 colour illustrations, hardcoverISBN 978-88-572-2061-1 I, -2140-3 E

€ 75,00 $ 100.00 Can $ 100.00 £ 65.00

Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore8 September – 1 December 2013

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