Full-blown excellence

December 18, 2004
BY ROGER GREEN
Ann Arbor News Bureau


For more than 700 years the island of Murano has been the center of Venetian glassmaking, supplying splendid, decorative and functional items to connoisseurs worldwide. But operations on the storied island have not always been calm or smooth.
Indeed, by the beginning of the 20th century, years of repeating traditional forms had caused the quality and popularity of Murano's blown glass to decline. Then, a succession of innovative glass blowers propitiously reinvigorated the waning art, challenging tradition with inventive techniques and concessions to contemporary styles and tastes. By the 1950s, Murano glass had redoubled its original excellence and cachet. The century of rebirth is the time frame represented in "Murano: Glass from the Olnick Spanu Collection," at the Detroit Institute of Arts through Feb. 27. Comprising glass treasures amassed by New York collectors Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu, the traveling exhibit includes some 200 items by 40 artists.
On view are vases, bowls, goblets and stoppered decanters whose gem-bright colors often appear as spirals or patches in contrasting hues. Alternately transparent and opaque, the disparate items have simple geometric or organic shapes, and sometimes are patterned or textured in relief. Lighted showcases set off the glass objects advantageously.

Among the 20th-century innovators represented are the manufacturers Paolo Venini and Giacomo Cappellin, who established a successful partnership in 1921, but four years later parted ways to establish independent glassworks (the still-flourishing Venini firm has sponsored the current exhibit's tour). The list of inventive glass artists includes Giuseppe Barovier, Napoleone Martinuzzi and Carlo Scarpa.

Barovier's circa 1919 "Mosaic Vase" is at once visually stunning and instructive, demonstrating how the artist updated an age-old technique. The surface of the vase is patterned with repeated spirals - most are yellow - created by the "a murrine" technique. According to it, slices of glass rods are embedded in the surface of a vessel, producing geometric or blossom-like motifs. Though developed in ancient Rome, the technique imbues the "Mosaic Vase" with modern air - that of art nouveau as expressed in the decorative, patterned painting of Gustav Klimt.
Martinuzzi's "Ten-Handled Vase" of 1930 illustrates another form of experimentation. The dark green vase is matte-textured and has a grainy, irregular surface, attained by adding petroleum to molten glass. The bubbling action caused by the petroleum explains the descriptive term "pulegoso," meaning pock-marked, applied to the glass.

Scarpa, one of the most important glass artists of the 20th century, is well represented in the exhibit. In particular, Scarpa is known for roughing up surfaces by etching or treating them with corrosive chemicals. His works also are known for their simple, geometric shapes, although his delightful "Seashells" of 1942 draw inspiration from the natural world.
Noteworthy, too, are Fulvio Bianconi's and Paolo Venini's "Handkerchief Vases" of 1950. These ethereal-appearing creations initially were molten-glass discs that, upended, gravitated to earth in folds evoking sheer cloth.
Viewers may recognize affinities between the "Handkerchief Vases" and the more recent work of American glass artist Dale Chihuly. That's appropriate since, like many international artists, Chihuly studied and worked in Murano's glass factories.
Murano's artistic tradition continues then, in countries all over the globe. Viewers are privileged to see, showcased, the 20th century innovations that rejuvenated Venetian glass art.

The Detroit Institute of Arts is at 5200 Woodward Ave. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. For more information, call (313) 833-7900 or access www.dia.org,

Article © 2004 Ann Arbor News.