Silvano Signoretto
Silvano Signoretto began to train at the age of eight, in the furnace of the unforgettable glass master Alfredo Barbini . Having acquired the foundations of the glassmaking he started working in the renowned glasshouses of Gino Cenedese , F.lli Cattelan, and Renato Mazzega among the others. It is here...
Thomas Stearns
Born in Philadelphia (U.S.A.) in 1936. He graduated at Cranbrook Academy of Art and in 1959 came to Italy. Here, with the cooperation of the maestro Checco Ongaro, he designed for Venini & Co . a collection of prestigious blown glasswares, items that were exhibited at the XXXI Venice Biennale...
Fioravante Seibezzi
Born in Venice in 1906, where he died 1974. Self - taught, he presented his works at the Opera Bevilacqua La Masa collectives exhibitions starting from 1925. After having participated in several Venice Biennali, in 1937 he won the competition for the stained glass windows at the Palazzo del Cinema...
Ettore Sottsass
Born in Innsbruck (Austria) in 1917, he studied in Turin and graduated in architecture. In 1958 he started working for the Olivetti corporation. In 1981 he was one of the founders of the Memphis brand, and with this trademark he designed glassware in the 80s, characterized by highly - successful...
Silvano Simioni
Master glassblowers at Aureliano Toso's during the 50's, he made several items desgned by the painter Dino Martens.
Lino Tagliapietra
Born in Murano in 1934, he bred in the “closed shop” environment of Venetian glass fraternity on Murano, learned the complex language of glass making as a matter of course from an early age. During the 50s he designed objects for the Vinicio Vianello firm. During 1966-67 he worked at...
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Born in New York in 1848, he died there in 1933. Son of the famous jeweler Charles, he studied painting in New York in 1866 and traveled to Paris in 1869, where he was acquainted with Siegfried Bing, whose shop, "L'Art Nouveau", later became the exclusive european outlet for his...
Matteo Thun
Born in Bolzano (Italy) in 1952, he studied sculpture in Salzburg (Austria) at the Akademie Oskar Kokoschka, and in 1975 he was awarded his ph.d. in architecture at the University of Florence in collaboration with Ettore Sottsass he grounded the Sottsass Associati and the Memphis Design Group in 1981. Between...
Didier Tisseyre
Born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1958 After studying at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Toulouse and Aix en Provence, he obtained the National Diploma of Plastic Expression in 1986. Invited by Cirva - Centre international de recherche sur le verre et les artes plastiques from Marseilles at the same...
Charles Tissot Lyn
While working for the firm of Venini & Co. in 1955, he designed glassware with a marked stylization based on a modern use of traditional techniques with essential forms and decorations with a graphic or chromatic value. In 1964 he cooperated with Archimede Seguso's.
Mark Tobey
Born in Centerville (Wisconsin, U.S.A.) in 1890, died in Basel (Switzerland) in 1976.He received little formal training in art aside from a few classes at the Art Institute of Chicago.He worked for a few years in New York as a fashion illustrator, interior decorator and portraitist, experimenting with fantastic designs...
Giacomo Toffolo
Master glassblower for Venini & Co., he exhibited his works in 1928 at the XVI Venice Biennale.
Cesare Toffolo
Born in Muran in 1961, he is Giacomo's grandson. His father, Florino gained the title of maestro at the early age of seventeen at Venini's and later specialized in the avant-garde technique of blown lampworked glass. At fifteen years of age, Cesare began working at his father's studio and is...
Armando Tonello
Born in Ceneda, now Vittorio Veneto (Tv, Italy) in 1897. Painter known because of his landscapes of the area round Asolo, in the early 50's he was part of the group of artists who, together with Egidio Costantini, established the Centro Studi Pittori, later Fucina degli Angeli.
Giuliano Tosi
Maestro Giuliano Tosi, born in 1942, comes from a family where the glass making tradition has been handed down from generation to generation since 1483. He was very young when he first started to work with glass but immediately revealed a unique talent for the craft. He soon learned the...
Angelo Tosi
Master glassblower, and partner of Cenedese's. In 1963 he executed a group of four glasswares: "Il volo: momenti", designed by Antonio Da Ros, exhibited the same year at the Murano Glass Show.
Decio Toso
Engraver in the Vetreria Franchetti, in 1923 he was one of the founding partners of S.A.L.I.R. firm. He retired in 1976 and handed over the management to his son Gigi.
Aureliano Toso
Born in Murano in 1884, where he died in 1979. He started working for the F.lli Toso firm, in 1932 he moves to Succ. Andrea Rioda, and in 1938 he opened his own furnace Vetreria Aureliano Toso .
Ferdinando Toso
Known as Fei. Master glassblower, in 1921 he joinedthe firm of Cappellin Venini & Co. As first assistant of the art director, Andrea Rioda . In 1925 he became minority partnen in Venini & C. , for whom he made very large glasswares. During the 30s he worked for Barovier...
Giusto Toso
Born in Murano in 1939, son of Ermanno he graduated in architecture, and in 1960 started working for F.lli Toso . In 1963 he worked as an interior architect, then in 1969 he worked as designer for Leucos and since 1985 for the Barovier & Toso firm.
Oreste Toso
Master glassblower at the Venini & Co. Firm, in 1928 he participated in the XVI Venice Biennale, where he exhibited works that he made.
Renato Toso
Born in Murano in 1940, son of Ermanno and brother of Giusto , he studied architecture in Venice, and in 1960 started working for F.lli Toso 's, designing decorative glassware and lighting accessories. Since 1968 he has been dealing with industrial glass projects while working as a designer for Leucos...
Stefano Toso
Stefano Toso was born in Venice on November 11th , 1958 into a centuries old family of glassmakers and entered into the family glass works at an early age, beginning his apprenticeship with his father Berto. He apprenticed as a glassmaker at the A.L.T. Glassworks in 1975, and after two...
Gabriele Urban
In 1966 in an old kiln of Murano, a young boy set to work the glass and soon aimed at bringing his skills to perfection and his own creations to life. That boy, Gabriele Urban, after a forty-year experience in glass blowing, has been working on his own kiln since...
Bertil Vallien
Bertil Vallien, one of the truly groundbreaking figures in Swedish glass art, was born in Stockholm in 1938. His father was a master painter and pastor of an independent church, his mother a housewife. Vallien was the second of seven children. The gifted young man soon tired of school and...
Franco Venini
Brother of Paolo, born in Milan, died in Venice in 1948. He graduated from the Bocconi university, and in the late 20s he joined the company as chemistry researcher. He created unique colors for Venini which competitors were unable to match, still nowadays.
Vinicio Vianello
Vianello is one of the most significant personalities of the Murano scene of the period after the second world war. Born in Venice in 1924, he attended art studies at the local Fine Arts Academy. Despite of his very young age, he became interested in glass as a means of...
Massimo Vignelli
Born in Milan in 1931. He studied architecture in Milan and Venice. In 1965, he became co-founder and design director of Unimark International Corporation. With Lella Vignelli, his wife, he established Vignelli Associates in 1971, and Vignelli Designs in 1978. He currently works as designer for Venini & Co ....
Guglielmo Vistosi
Born in Murano in 1901, where he died in 1952. He started his career as a salesman for several Murano surfaces. In 1945 he established his own firm Vetreria Vistosi .
Gino Vistosi
Son of Guglielmo, he was born in Murano in 1925, where he died in 1980. He worked together with his uncle to expand the firm, that in 1963 was awarded the Compasso d'Oro.
Luciano Vistosi
Son of Guglielmo, he was born in Murano on 24 February 1931. From a very young age, still a student, he breathes the scent of glass in the family furnace and learns to know all its secrets, driven by a curiosity and an inventiveness that will bear fruit well, when,...
Oreste Vistosi
Brother of Guglielmo . He was born in Murano in 1917, where he died in 1982. When Guglielmo died, he took over the management of the glassworks, by renewing its production line that specialised in lighting fixtures.
Georges Vuilleumiere Willy
Born in Geneva (Switzerland) in 1898, he died there in 1983. An eclectic artist, he worked both in painting and sculpture, and in designing, too. During the 50s he worked for the Centro Studio Pittori Arte Del Vetro, later Fucina Degli Angeli, and designed a series of glasswares made in...
Libero Vitali
In 1923, together with Giulio Dall'Aglio, he established the firm Industrie Vetri Artistici Murano (I.V.A.M.). In 1929 he bought his partner out and was joined by his son Giovita and by the designer Flavio Poli.
Giovita Vitali
Son of Libero. He was active as a designer during the 20s at the I.V.A.M. furnace, where he worked with Flavio Poli, designing together figures having modern taste.
Teodoro Wolf-Ferrari
Born in Venice in 1878, he died there in 1945. Landscape painter, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. In 1913, in Munich (Germany), together with Vittorio Zecchin , he exhibited vitreous panels and vessels, and always with Zecchin in 1914 he exhibited at the XI Venice...
Tapio Wirkkala
Born in 1915 in Hanko (Finland), he died in Venice in 1985. He attended the Central School of Applied Arts and went on to produce successful art and design in almost every medium-plywood, glass, porcelain, silver in addition to making a name for himself as a graphic designer.In 1936 he...
Arnaldo Zanella
He was born in 1949 in Sant'Erasmo, a small island in the Venetian lagoon, three minutes from Murano. During the 1950’s and 60’s he worked alongside masters such as Alfredo Barbini , Angelo Seguso , Ermanno Nason , Pino Signoretto and many others. Angelo Seguso decided to take him on...
Licio Zanetti
Son Of Oscar Zanetti (nickname: Saor) Father of Oscar Zanetti Founded the Zanetti Vetreria Artistica in 1956.
Oscar (Saor) Zanetti
Known as Saor. Master glassblower, he worked at the Venini & Co. furnaces from the 30s to the 50s.
Vittorio Zecchin
Born in Murano in 1878, he died in Venice in 1947. he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Painter close to "Art Nouveau", he applied his techniques to glassmaking. He worked for Artisti Barovier in 1913, for Cappellin Venini & Co. from 1921 to 1925, for MVM...
Francesco Zecchin
Born in Murano in 1894, he died there in 1986. He studied engineering at the University of Padua. In 1925 he became a partner of Venini & C., and later left it together with Napoleone Martinuzzi in 1932, in order to open the Zecchin Martinuzzi Vetri Artistici e Mosaici, furnace...
Toni Zuccheri
Born in San Vito al Tagliamento (Udine) in 1936, his father was the painter Luigi Zuccheri, his mother Jolanda was the sister of the poet and philosopher Giacomo Noventa.In 1945 the family moved to Venice where hi made the acquaintance of important figure of culture and art: Giorgio De Chirico,...
Licio Zuffi
Master glassblower at F.lli Toso's, he died in 1973. In 1964, at the XXII Venice Biennale and in 1966, at the XXXIII, he exhibited the glasses executed by him on the design of Renato Toso. In 1968 he joined the F.lli Toso's as unlimited partners in place of his father...
Mariano Moro
Moro Mariano was born in Venice the 27th of september 1957 on the small island of Burano, Venice. At a very young age (13 years old) he began working with glass at the renowned Cristalleria Santi factory on the Island of Murano. From Cristalleria Santi Mariano began migrating from factory...
Mary-Ann Zynsky Toots
Born in Boston (U.S.A.) in 1951, she lives in Paris. She was born Mary Ann, but was called Toots almost from birth. She earned her BFA at the Rhode Island School of Design, then went to Seattle to study with Dale Chihuly at the Pilchuck Glass School. Since then, she's...
Mirco Bastianello
Mrco was born in 1975, son of a Maestro Vetraio. He started working at the age of 15, not in a forge but "a lume", reproducing any kind of objects. His love for glass was so big that, at a certain point, producing little objects wasn't enough anymore. That's why...
Stringhetti Laura
After graduation from Art School, Laura Stringhetti attended the International School of graphic design. Student of Licata, Kramer, Teardo, Gadioli with whom she still works today. In her small atelier in Mestre, Venice, Laura experiments with different media and materials . Her works have been exhibited at the Expo Art...
Giovanni Moretti
Born in 1940 in Murano, he lived in Venice with his wife Maria Roberta Rinaldi until his premature death in 2014. After completing his commercial studies, he joined his brother Carlo in the constitution of Carlo Moretti, creatively contributing to its development and evolution over the years. Within the company...
Oscar Zanetti (Jr)
Oscar Zanetti, son of Licio and grandson of Oscar Snr, started working at the Zanetti Vetreria Artistica - founded in 1956 by his grandfather - very young, at the beginning of the 80's. From his father he inherited the artistic talent, which he learned to express through the ancient Murano...
Shelley James
Shelley James, after training in textiles at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, has pursued a career in corporate design for international clients such as Visa International, Shell and Habitat. Later, fulfilling the wish to explore the themes of perception and reality, she enrolled at the University...
MuranoNet meets Igor Balbi
It’s a sunny Friday of early May. The climate is ideal for sightseeing and discover Venice and its hidden corners, as are doing thousands of tourists arrived from all over the world. We, instead, are in a waterbus, heading towards Campo Santa Maria Mater Domini: we have arranged a meeting...
Timo Sarpaneva
Designer and sculptor Timo Sarpaneva (1926-2006) was an internationally known Finnish designer. Glass artist, designer in clay, metal fiber, and wood, and visionary Sarpaneva has worked in glass for more than half a century distinguishing himself as an innovator and independent thinker. He became famous in the mid-1950s with his...
Moulaye Niang
Moulaye Niang arrived in Venice about 10 years ago from Senegal. First he started as a musician and painter but soon after he met glass and was utterly fascinated by it. The next consequence soon followed: Moulaye decided to work in order to pay for the lessons at the Scuola...
Carlo Tosi - Caramea
Carlo Tosi the master of mouth-blown glass. Also known as Caramea , (candy in Venetian dialect) - was born in 1929 in Murano. He started as an apprentice at the early age of 9 at Nason Glassworks and in 1943 he was the most important artist in the glassblowers team....
Licio Falcier
Licio Falcier was born in Murano in 1922. At a very young age, he began working at the Morassi glassworks in 1933, while completing his school studies. In 1935 he moved to Nason & Moretti where he worked with important artists such as Alfredo Barbini , Adolfo Molin, and Bepi...
Giovanni "Nane Catari" Ferro
Giovanni Ferro, known also by his surname "Nane Catari", was born in 1911 from a dynasty of master glassmakers. He began his apprenticeship at the age of eight, in the furnace of Ferro and Toso, S.A.I.A.R. which then in 1936 merged with Barovier & C. artistic glassworks. He was servente...
Mario "Grasso" Tosi
He was born in 1924 in Milan. Known as Grasso (translated: "fat"). Mario Tosi started working from a very young age at the Conterie before arriving at the famous Venini glassworks in 1937 where he stayed until the early 80's as one of the company's most important masters, collaborating with...
Galliano Ferro
Galliano Ferro opened the "Vetreria Artistica Galliano Ferro", his own glass factory, in 1955 after leaving Arte Vetraria Muranese (AVeM) which he co-founded in 1932. Designers at Galliano Ferro include his son Giorgio Ferro, Ezio Rizzetto, Fulvio Bianconi and Vinicio Vianello. Giorgio Ferro became head of the company in 1972....
Renato Anatrà
Co-founder of Arte80 with Andrea Tagliapietra, Renato Anatrà has been one of the most prolific glass sculptors in Murano.His artworks – mainly consisting in sculptures made of clear glass – are incredible masterpieces , thought to be shown in public. Anatrà has been one of the most important exponents of...
Gino Salmistrari
Gino Salmistrari was born in Mestre in 1927. He became a glass master when only 21 at Mazzega, creating glass artworks designed by Vigilio Guidi . Then at Seguso-Dalla Venezia glasworks, he gave birth to creations by Lucio Fontana . At the end of the 70's he has worked Archimede...
Marino Santi
Born in Murano in 1967. I began my apprenticeship in various furnaces in 1975 During this period he had the opportunity to collaborate with maestro such as Scarpa, Berto Mattiello (Geremia), Orfeo. He become a maestro sensitive to technical evolution but who always remains emotionally linked to his specialty: the...
Giuliano Zennaro
Giuliano Zennaro was born in Venice in 1967. He is descended from two of Murano's most famous families: the Baroviers and the Ferros. At 17 he began to work in the artisan studio of Guido Seguso, where he learned the basic skills that would serve him in his future career....
Diego Bottacin
Diego Bottacin was born in 1971 and graduated from the Liceo Artistico di Venezia. He had become familiar with glass working in 2002 and opened his own studio on the Island of Murano in 2003. He uses the classical lamp working technique for his creation of pearls and rings. He...
Fiona Rennie Schwieters
Born in Wanganui, New Zealand, in 1961. BVA 1996, in sculpture, AUT, Auckland. She became a glass artist thanks to a visit to Italy in 2000. She notched and chiseled for a decade, realizing her dream of working with the marble of Pietra Santa. Inspired by bronze works created and...
Davide Penso
Born in Venice in 1965 and a resident of Murano, he specializes in artistic lampwork beads, in collaboration with Kristina Logan. He boasts ten years of teaching experience, principally at the AZ school, in addition to performances in Japan and the United States, numerous exhibits both personal and collective, and...
Paolo Cenedese
Born on Murano in 1952, he is the first in his family to dedicate himself to glass arts. In fact, already as a youngster he started out as an assistant in the Murano glass factories, and after 35 years he is still enthusiastic about his work. After having worked for...
Simone Cenedese
Simone Cenedese was born on Murano in 1973. Master and designer of art glass, with all the experiences of a dynasty of master glass workers of Murano, he pursued design out of personal interest, but soon his passion transformed into creativity, crowned by success in Italy and abroad. His beginnings...
David Russell
Eagerly seeking a career that utilized my hands and was not in the typical office setting, I found myself at the Penland School of Crafts in 1996. My studies first began in the iron forge and wood shop but quickly gravitated to the hot glass studio. It was there that...
Massimo Daissè
Mosaicist born in Venice in 1962, he learned the art of glass decorating from his father. He has continued to study fine arts and the history of art at the State Institute of Art and at Ca'Foscari University in Venice. He has frequented and collaborated with important Venetian ateliers of...
František Vízner
A major Czech glass artist. František Vízner (1936-2011) trained at the famous glassmaking schools in Nový Bor and Železný Brod before completing his studies at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. After graduating from the academy, he was first engaged as a glass designer at Sklo Union in Teplice...
Giancarlo Signoretto
Giancarlo, born in 1962, is the son of a painter and one of eight children (including the celebrated maestro Pino Signoretto ). Giancarlo's first productions are influenced by the trends of the 1980s. The generation of artists that grew up in those years was tainted by a period of rapidly...
Walter Furlan
Walter Furlan was born in 1931 in Chioggia, a small town in the southern part of the lagoon of Venice. At an early age he goes to work in the V.A.M.S.A. glassworks, where he was apprenticed to Romano Tosi, a master-craftsman, better-known as "Mamaracio". At the end of the Second...
Mario Furlan
Born in Murano on 09.04.1963, where he currently lives and works. He studied at the State Institute of Art in Venice, and continued his studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice , where he graduated in 1987. Immediately after completing his studies he devoted himself to learning the...
Svetlana Ostapovici
Born in Ribnita, Moldova, in1967. She moved to Italy on 1999 where she lives and works now. Photography, installations, painting, mosaic are the means of expression she used for her researches. Her techniques uses at the first time the art of mosaic - amalgams of acrylic, vitreous tesserae, painting and...