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"Gomitolo"
glass
design by Dino Martens for Vetraria Aureliano Toso
1954
23.5 cm high

#vetrariaaurelianotoso #glass #art #muranoglass #handmade #studioglass #iconic #venetianglass #italy #venice #murano #dinomartens #moderndesign #modernart #vintageartglass #oneofakind
The carved surface of these vases represents several hours of hard labour by the grounder. The weight of the pieces - like most other objects of this series - made it impossible to finish them in one session. The technical difficulty was enhanced by the regular pattern of the spiralled carving, as this demanded strict concentration. M. Heiremans, Dino Martens, Stuttgart, 1999, p. 95 for a photograph of this vase. The firm was founded in 1938 by Aureliano Toso, who right from the start was able to cooperate with the painter Dino Martens, whose qualities as a designer he had already appreciated. The first important experiments (just at research level) appeared at the XXIII Venice Biennale in 1942 with a series of objects with opposing colour bands and some thick spiral shaped glasses with multicoloured inclusions. One of the most significant pieces was the 1948 "La bottiglia del mago" also seen at the Historical Exhibition of Murano Glass t the 1952 Venice Biennale. This was an object that anticipated the lucky series of the Oriente items, and it was the first time that glass was used much as any other medium through which an artist could express himself. Over the period from 1946 to 1960, Dino Martens designed an incredible series of item for Toso, mostly unique or in any case with a limited number of copies, where he exploited tradtional techniques and succeeded in obtaining very new multicoloured effects, combined with extremely bold asymmetrical shapes very difficult to execute. In this research of his, the artist received a great deal of support from the proprietor who went along with him very generously and provided him with substantial means as well as with the cooperation of some of the best maestros of the island, among them the famous Aldo "Polo" Bon, Mario Zanetti and Silvano Simioni. During those years the glass factory was present at the most important exhibitions in Italy and abroad, where the various objects met with great success with the critics, confirmed by the award of a number of prizes, among them the gold medal at the 1951 Triennale in Milan (Italy). He also cooperated briefly with italian and foreign artists, among them Fioravante Seibezzi, Aldo Bergamini and Jean Le Witt. Dino Martens left the firm in teh early 60s. In 1966 it was Gino Poli that became the artistic director, due to his extensive experience in the field of lightings acquired at Venini & C. In the following years he specialized in productions for other firms, an activity that sitll continues to this day.
May 1, 2025 at 2:37 PM