MEMORIES OF MURANO: AMERICAN GLASS ARTISTS IN VENICE WILL BE AT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS & DESIGN THIS FALL
September 13, 2000 - October 29, 2000
and
November 21, 2000 - January 7, 2001
September 1, New York - American fascination with age-old Italian glassblowing will be the central theme of an exhibit of about 20 American artists that will open at the Museum of Arts & Design on September 13, 2000. This is one of the first shows to focus solely on the relationship of Italian and American glass artists in the last 50 years, and it examines the influence of that experience on contemporary American Studio Glass.
Curated by Ursula Ilse-Neuman, ACM Curator, Memories of Murano will be an unusual gathering of the works of American artists who were attracted to Venice after World War II to study Italian glassmaking techniques in use for over 700 years on the fabled island of Murano. Approximately 40 objects by American artists will illustrate these influences, which include the use of hot glass methods, team techniques and on-site color creation yielding unique hues. A brochure written by the curator will accompany the exhibition.
"Nothing matches the fascination for glass art," says Holly Hotchner, Director of the Museum of Arts & Design. "Delicate intricacies of color are transfused through light and played against fluid forms creating an unparalleled medium. The knowledge gained by Americans in the legendary center for glassmaking in Italy changed American art glass forever and was a central factor in creating what we now know as the American Studio Glass Movement."
Memories of Murano telescopes the impact of these developments over several decades by pairing earlier and later works by each artist. Familiar objects such as vases andvessels, and purely sculptural forms reveal a striking comparison between the initial reactions to the Murano experience, and the Americans' long-term assimilation of Italian techniques and aesthetics.
Prior to the 1962 Toledo (Ohio) workshops that gave impetus to the spread of glassblowing instruction through colleges, the few American artists working in glass had little glassblowing knowledge or facilities available to them and worked with slumping and fusing methods almost exclusively.
On the founder's death in 1959, the renowned Venetian glass factory of Paolo Venini came under the co-direction of his son-in-law, architect Ludovico Diaz de Santillana. Through his enlightened leadership, Venini threw open its doors to international artists, in the hope of bringing fresh design perspectives into the insular Murano community. Although other glass houses in Venice invited foreign artists, Venini proved the most hospitable.
Such early American visitors as Robert Willson and Thomas Stearns did not immediately transfer Venetian glass technology to the US when they returned, but the positive reaction to Stearn's designs and his successful working relationship with Francesco (Checco) Ongaro and the Italian management encouraged de Santillana to proffer more invitations. Ongaro and Lino Tagliapietra, two of the great Italian glass maestros to work closely with the Americans, would subsequently spend much time in the United States teaching and, in turn, absorbing the freely expressed individualistic ideas of the Americans which they incorporated and brought back to Murano. It was Marvin Lipofsky, however, who frequently worked in Murano and invited Gianni Toso as the first Italian master to teach in the United States.
Arriving at Venini in 1968 on a Fulbright, Dale Chihuly, who would later become Murano's chief advocate in the United States, was soon followed by James Carpenter, Dan Dailey, Micheal Nourot and Richard Marquis in the 1970s. They worked closely with Italian masters, learning techniques that allowed them to produce larger and more complicated shapes. Chemists were available at the factories to create colors on-site from raw materials, whereas in the US they had a small palette of compatible ready-made colors with which to work. The Americans could now not only blow glass, but learned the old Roman technique of murrine cane making, cutting, grinding and polishing - an education they all used to their advantage.
No Americans were invited to Venini between 1974 and 1977, when Benjamin Moore arrived. Toots Zynsky was invited to create a one-of-a-kind series in the 1980s and in 1984, Tina Aufiero came to Venini to design and build a kiln for pâte de verre, a material with which she had produced some remarkable masks. Two of her designs, "Folto" and "Mulinello" still remain available in limited production.
By juxtaposing old and new, the exhibition is eminently successful in illustrating the confluence of two systems; one the Muranese tradition, rich in history and technique but confined artistically, and the other based in the 1960s American-style individualism. These systems joined to give birth to the contemporary school of American Studio Glass.
The project was generously supported by the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. Additional support has been given by the Gordon Woodside/John Brasseth Gallery, Seattle WA. The exhibit was planned to accompany and complement the premier public showing of the impressive Venetian glass collection of Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu, Venetian Glass: 20th Century Italian Glass from the Olnick Spanu Collection.
ARTISTS Represented
Tina Marie Aufiero Micheal Nourot
Eugene Berman William Prindle
James Carpenter Ginny Ruffner
Dale Chihuly Louis Sclafani
Dan Dailey Kenneth George Scott
Leslie Genninger Peter Shire
Marvin Lipofsky Thomas Stearns
Richard Marquis Charles Linn Tissot
Benjamin Moore Steve Tobin
Nall Robert Willson
Douglas Navarra Toots Zynsky