Venice, Pierre Rosenberg's collection of Murano glass animals on display

The new spring exhibition of Le Stanze del Vetro on theIsland of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice will open on March 22, 2021 and will be dedicated to the extraordinary collection of glass animals of Pierre Rosenberg, president-honorary director of the Louvre Museum.

Curated by Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami, the exhibition The Glass Ark. Pierre Rosenberg’s Animal Collection tells the story of 20th-century Murano glass through glass animals until August 1, 2021. More than 750 pieces, including elephants, dogs, hippopotamuses, cats, giraffes,bears, parrots, fish, turtles, foxes and tiny insects made in full-scale lamplight by Bruno Amadi, which belong to the personal collection that Pierre Rosenberg, the historic director of the Louvre Museum in Paris, has collected over 30 years of assiduous attendance in Venice.

When this kind of glassmaking was still considered a souvenir or a kind of kiln divertissement, Pierre Rosenberg demonstrated a passion for these objects, resulting in a collection that was never original or extensive. The glass animal never has fierce attitudes and above all is never thought of as a game: in this collection, however, there is a playful sense, following a technical quality but also irony and personal taste that is far from patterns. There is no shortage of specimens from the best-known series, such as Napolene Martinuzzi’s pulegosi, Tyra Lundgren’s volatili or Toni Zuccheri’s for Venini. Alongside well-known specimens by Seguso Vetri d’Arte, zebrates by Barovier &Toso, and aquariums by Alfredo Barbini, the exhibition offers a vast sampling of animals made by lesser-known but equally interesting glassworks on the front of technical and formal experimentation in twentieth-century Murano. Demonstrating the inexhaustible inspiration of the animalier subject, the exhibition also includes sculptures by living artists such as Cristiano Bianchin, Marcantonio Brandolini d’Adda, Franck Ehrler, Massimo Nordio, Isabelle Poilprez, Maria Grazia Rosin and Giorgio Vigna.

The installation is by Denise Carnini and Francesca Pedrotti (www.ortichestudio.com), young set designers who have narrated this glass zoo. An animation video made by Giulia Savorani, a visual artist and filmmaker who, starting from drawings on glass, which gave life to a fairy tale created especially for the occasion by Giordana Naccari, will also be shown.

The exhibition will also be visitable digitally thanks to the 3D virtual tour accessible at www.lestanzedelvetro.org, enriched with textual, photographic and video contributions. It is still also possible to virtually visit the exhibition Venice and the American Glass Studio with virtual tours and free online guided tours organized by Artsystem on the Zoom platform: in fact, every Tuesday and Friday guided tours are scheduled in Italian at 6:30 p.m., and every Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. in Italian and 6:30 p.m. English. However, it is always possible to book a guided tour on any other day of the week by writing to artsystem@artsystem.com at least two days in advance of the requested date.

The Glass Rooms are a project of Fondazione Giorgio Cini onlus and Pentagram Stiftung.

For info: www.lestanzedelvetro.org

Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Wednesdays.
Free admission.

Pictured: Volpe, Flavio Poli for Seguso Vetri d’Arte, 1936c. Courtesy THE GLASS ROOMS. Ph.Enrico Fiorese

Venice, Pierre Rosenberg's collection of Murano glass animals on display

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.