Venini The Art of Glass

On Venini’s 100th anniversary, this book celebrates the excellence of Italian high artistic glass craftsmanship and the vases that made history.

From Venice to the world, this special book recounts the prolific and original manufacture of Venini, the glass art company founded 100 years ago in Murano, Venice, by the visionary genius of Paolo Venini and Giacomo Cappellin. Over the course of a century, Venini has pursued the goal of innovation in keeping with tradition: the brand has transformed the ancient art of glassmaking by “intersecting” it with the modern visions of artists and designers. It has gained international fame and become the obsession of collectors all over the world. Venini objects are present in private collections, as well as museums and public institutions.

The book describes the evolution of Venini’s taste, style, and innovation, thanks to the images and stories of key designers and art directors, such as Paolo Venini, Carlo Scarpa, Gio Ponti, Gae Aulenti, Ettore Sottsass, Alessandro Mendini, Tadao Ando, and Ron Arad. The imagery includes about 150 illustrations: photos of glass, archive documents, original drawings, and a photoshoot carried out in the furnace itself. These images will allow readers to enter the beating heart of Venini craftsmanship and observe all the stages of glassmaking.

Federica Sala is an independent curator. She edited the book Minimal/Baroque on the Italian artist Gianluca Pacchioni and has authored various publications on the history of Italian design.