Vetri italiani, 1932-1992 a private collection

OctobeR 28, 2014 - 6.30PM
Vetri italiani,
1932-1992
a private collection
Viewing
October 23-28, 2014
PIASA 118 rue du Faubourg saint-Honoré 75008 Paris
PRESS & COMMUNICATION
Cécile Demtchenko Woringer
T +33 1 53 34 12 95 – M +33 6 38 93 44 15
c.demtchenko@piasa.fr
PRESS RELEASE
On Tuesday 28 October 2014, PIASA will offer for auction an exceptional
private collection of Italian glass formed over a 30-year period. The 190
works reflect decades of amazing creativity and the unique skill of Murano.
Fulvio Bianconi was a highly creative and artistically influential figure who began to
work with Venini in 1940. He designed the famous pezzati, a spichi, scozzesi vases, using
glass of dazzling colour. A classic example is the vase that headlines the PIASA sale.
It is the most sought-after design in his entire oeuvre, and just three such vases are
known to have been made. One is in an American collection; a second was formerly
in the Museo Venini (but stolen and never recovered); and the third is to be offered by
PIASA. The vase’s different layers of colour reveal Bianconi’s incredible dexterity, as
colour becomes form, hugging vase’s outline – a technique Bianconi made his hallmark
and which established his international reputation (est. €120,000-180,000).
One of Fulvio Bianconi’s signature series are his Comedia dell’Arte figurines,
reinterpreting the lattimo technique invented in the 15th century to imitate porcelain
and give glass a milky, opaque appearance. The full series of characters are united here
for the first time (est. €30,000-40,000).
2
Fulvio Bianconi (1915-1996)
A fasce
Venini
Date de création : 1954 / deux
cachets à l’acide venini murano
ITALIA
28 x 15,5 cmx 12 cm
Bibliographie : «Glas Vom
Jugendstil bis Heute - Sammlung
Gertrud und Dr. Karl FunkeKaiser», Koeln 1981, p. 495, fig. 385
120 000 / 180 000 €
3
Fulvio Bianconi (1915-1994)
Commedia dell’Arte
groupe complet de 12 figurines
Verre soufflé, technique dite du
«lattimo», verre fusionné
Venini
Date de création : 1935-1950 /
étiquettes d’oigines venini sur 6
personnages , cachets venini murano
MADE IN ITALY ou venini
murano
H 13 - H50 cm
Bibliographie : - Franco Deboni,
Les verres Venini, 1989, fig.95
- Mille anni di arte del vretro
Venezia, p.310, fig. 647
30 000 / 40 000 €
4
Fucina degli Angeli: Glassmakers’ Co-Operative
In 1950 Fioravante Seibezzi, Armando Tonello, Gino Krayer, Mario Carraro and others,
under Egidio Costantini, founded the Centro Studi Pittori Arte del Vetro. Their aim:
to foment interest in Murano glass by collaborating with internationally renowned
artists. Aldo ‘Polo’ Bon was in charge of technical matters and teaching artists – notably
painters – all about glass’s expressive potential. The first exhibition, held in Murano on
18 April 1953, included works by Giudi, Calder, Moore, Le Corbusier and Kokoschka.
The following year – at Jean Cocteau’s suggestion – the Centro changed its name,
becoming the Fucina Degli Angeli (Angels’ Hearth). Exhibitions in Basel, Paris and New
York soon followed. Jean Arp in person designed the Fucina degli Angeli logo. Works
were produced by the top glassmakers of the time, including Aldo ‘Polo’ Bon, Albino
Carrara, Luciano Ferro, Gino Fort, Francesco Martinuzzi, Aldo Nason, Archimede
Seguso, Angelo Tosi and Ferdinando Toso.
Peggy Guggenheim also played a key role in the Fucina Degli Angeli’s development
– by introducing Egidio Costantini to leading names in the art world and mounting a
major exhibition of glass sculpture at the New York MoMA in 1965.
Over a 40-year period Costantini would produce a body of work unique in the annals
of glassmaking. He also transformed Murano into an international forum of ideas,
opinions and research, thereby becoming a key figure in the history of 20th century
ceramics.
Exceptional works in the sale include the Max Ernst’s glass mask with inclusions
(1968) and Jean Cocteau’s Trinità vase (est. €6,000-8,000), while another important lot
is Flavio Poli’s iconic Siderale vase.
Max Ernst (1891-1976)
Masque
Figure
Verre à inclusions
Fucina Degli Angeli
Date de création : 1968
h 50 x 50 / gravé M. Ernst E.
Costantini (?) 1968
3/3 // 3/3 fucina degli angeli E.
Costantini
Venezia 1968 // Murano Angeli
Venezia
Bibliographie : Janine BlochDermant, Le guidargus de la
Verrerie, 1989, p. 332
30 000 / 40 000 €
5
André Verdet (1913-2004)
Figure rouge
Vase
Cristal soufflé et flashé
Fucina Degli Angeli, gravé 1/3 A.
Verdet / Fucina
Angeli Venezia 62 G. Nason
Date de création : 1947
H 63,5 cm
Bibliographie : Sculpture in
Glass-Fucina degli
Angeli, New-York, 1968.
8 000 / 10 000 €
André Verdet (1913-2004)
Figure verte
Vase
Verre en cristal soufflé et flashé
Fucina Degli Angeli, Fucina Degli
Angeli, gravé
1/3 A. Verdet / Fucina Angeli
Venezia 62 G.
8 000 / 10 000 €
6
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)
Trinità
Vase
Fucina Degli Angeli
Date de création : 1968
H 38 × Ø 17 cm
6 000 / 8 000 €
7
In the 1950s Poli devoted his efforts to designing vases using the sommerso (immersed)
technique involving superimposed layers of glass produced by passing the item
successively in different basins of glass in fusion, to facilitate subtle colour combinations.
These vases enjoyed immediate success, and Poli received a string of awards –
including the 1954 Compasso d’Oro. He is considered one of the finest exponents of the
sommerso technique, and his Siderale vase perfectly embodies the spirit of Murano,
with the perfection of traditional technique allied to modernistic form and design
(est. €15,000-20,000).
Flavio Poli (1900-1984)
Siderale
Vase
Verre de Murano jaune et vert
Seguso Vetri d’Arte Murano
Date de création : 1952
Dimensions : H 24,5 cm
Bibliographie : - Franco Deboni,
«Murano 900», 1996, photo de
couverture et p.230, fig.146
15 000 / 20 000 €
8
Design Department
Cédric Morisset
François Épin
Cindy Chanthavong
DESIGN auction schedule
> October 8
Pierre Sabatier, poétique du métal
> October 8
Arts & Crafts, d’une collection privée
> October 28
Protest ! Art + Design
> November 6
Pierre Culot, 50 ans de création
> November 25
Design Italien
Gabriella Crespi, Timeless
> December 17
Design XXe et XXIe siècles dont intérieur d’un appartement parisien
Fred Brouard
9