Glass vase designed by Fulvio Bianconi for Venini. Glass, translucent sapphire glass applied with bands of red, inscr. "venini murano ITALIA." 8 3/4 x 8 5/8 x 3 7/8 in.
The Scozzesi vases are amongst the rarest models by Fulvio Bianconi Venini produced and the present vase is emblematic of one of the highest points of artistic expression in 20th century Murano glass.
The Venini firm had become famous in the pre-war years for combining the chic modernist aesthetic of Milan with the age-old traditions of Murano glass craftsmanship. Paolo Venini accomplished this by hiring artists, designers and architects from outside Murano to work closely with his master blowers, and among those, Bianchoni was perhaps the most celebrated.
By 1950, Bianconi was leading Venini in a bold new direction. Inspired by Carlo Scarpa’s designs from a decade earlier, he began to consider the use of color as subject matter. His Scozzese series was created in several different phases. The most important group is composed of nine model shapes of distinctive geometric forms which were blown into rigid, specifically shaped wooden molds—unusual for Murano glass of any kind — manually taken apart and, after cooling, then finely polished both rim and base at the wheel. The complexity of the production process was most likely the reason why only very few examples were executed, mostly prototypes. The cost of production for the Scozzesi series must have been of such magnitude that the series was deemed incompatible with the furnace’s capacity, and therefore unfit for serial production.
These forms demonstrate Bianconi’s understanding that a change was beginning to take place in the world of art and design, one which would explore industrial forms as an aesthetic for handmade objects, and this lies at the heart of the Scozzese series. Within the confines of these semi-industrial forms, the complex and colorful arrangement of “woven” glass canes would create objects of unparalleled visual intensity.
Scozzese means Scottish, and indeed this series was based on Scottish plaids. But in the hands of Fulvio Bianconi and the master blowers at Venini, this concept was taken to a powerful and abstract level, using vivid color, transparency and volume to create a nearly holographic, three dimensional vessels as sculpture. Very few of these objects are known to exist, and the ones that do are exceedingly hard to describe: complex rectilinear shapes with semi-crushed walls, subtly textured surfaces, and unusual but pleasing geometric proportions.
As individual works of abstract art, the Scozzesi seem to embody everything that Venini, and Murano glass in general, did well in the 1950s—new and interesting forms, vivid colors, a blending of cultural sophistication with traditional Venetian aesthetics— glass so well considered, so well designed and executed, that the resulting objects were able to blur the line between design and art.
Several of the Scozzese models were included in Bianconi's important Danese Gallery exhibition of 1958 where he showcased a wide range of unique, experimental works. Bianconi would go on to design more glass for Venini in the 60s, and again in the 80s, but for Fulvio and Paolo, the Scozzese series would represent the pinnacle of their collaborative efforts. Paolo Venini’s untimely death in 1959 would profoundly change the fate of his company and signal the end of an era for Murano glass.
Glass vase designed by Fulvio Bianconi for Venini. Glass, translucent sapphire glass applied with bands of red, inscr. "venini murano ITALIA." 8 3/4 x 8 5/8 x 3 7/8 in.
The Scozzesi vases are amongst the rarest models by Fulvio Bianconi Venini produced and the present vase is emblematic of one of the highest points of artistic expression in 20th century Murano glass.
The Venini firm had become famous in the pre-war years for combining the chic modernist aesthetic of Milan with the age-old traditions of Murano glass craftsmanship. Paolo Venini accomplished this by hiring artists, designers and architects from outside Murano to work closely with his master blowers, and among those, Bianchoni was perhaps the most celebrated.
By 1950, Bianconi was leading Venini in a bold new direction. Inspired by Carlo Scarpa’s designs from a decade earlier, he began to consider the use of color as subject matter. His Scozzese series was created in several different phases. The most important group is composed of nine model shapes of distinctive geometric forms which were blown into rigid, specifically shaped wooden molds—unusual for Murano glass of any kind — manually taken apart and, after cooling, then finely polished both rim and base at the wheel. The complexity of the production process was most likely the reason why only very few examples were executed, mostly prototypes. The cost of production for the Scozzesi series must have been of such magnitude that the series was deemed incompatible with the furnace’s capacity, and therefore unfit for serial production.
These forms demonstrate Bianconi’s understanding that a change was beginning to take place in the world of art and design, one which would explore industrial forms as an aesthetic for handmade objects, and this lies at the heart of the Scozzese series. Within the confines of these semi-industrial forms, the complex and colorful arrangement of “woven” glass canes would create objects of unparalleled visual intensity.
Scozzese means Scottish, and indeed this series was based on Scottish plaids. But in the hands of Fulvio Bianconi and the master blowers at Venini, this concept was taken to a powerful and abstract level, using vivid color, transparency and volume to create a nearly holographic, three dimensional vessels as sculpture. Very few of these objects are known to exist, and the ones that do are exceedingly hard to describe: complex rectilinear shapes with semi-crushed walls, subtly textured surfaces, and unusual but pleasing geometric proportions.
As individual works of abstract art, the Scozzesi seem to embody everything that Venini, and Murano glass in general, did well in the 1950s—new and interesting forms, vivid colors, a blending of cultural sophistication with traditional Venetian aesthetics— glass so well considered, so well designed and executed, that the resulting objects were able to blur the line between design and art.
Several of the Scozzese models were included in Bianconi's important Danese Gallery exhibition of 1958 where he showcased a wide range of unique, experimental works. Bianconi would go on to design more glass for Venini in the 60s, and again in the 80s, but for Fulvio and Paolo, the Scozzese series would represent the pinnacle of their collaborative efforts. Paolo Venini’s untimely death in 1959 would profoundly change the fate of his company and signal the end of an era for Murano glass.