"With Vittorio Zecchin, an Era Changes"
Starting from this statement, Alessandro Zoppi presents a selection of glass works that tell the story of the evolution and the great transformation of glass production in the 20th century. After the rebirth of the Murano glass industry at the end of the 19th century, glassworks, now equipped with excellent craftsmanship but still aesthetically tied to the decorative virtuosity of the 19th century and outdated classical forms, felt the need for renewal. This was also influenced by the international avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century, which radically broke away from the aesthetic still prevalent in the first decades of the century.
Craftsmanship became a work of art.
With Vittorio Zecchin, in the early 1920s, the break was clear: simple, essential forms, the abandonment of the multicolored palette typical of the late 19th century, and a shift toward new shapes in soft, light hues that evoke the light and reflections of Venice.
From the 1920s onward, we enter the full scope of the 20th century, and the figure of the designer or artistic director emerges. Alongside the skilled master glassmakers, the designer focuses on experimenting with new glass techniques and creating innovative forms of art.
Vittorio Zecchin, Archimede Seguso, Carlo Scarpa, Flavio Poli, and other leading figures of the 20th century are at the heart of this transformation, as shown in the exhibition.