The Pezzati series of vases seemed destined to become icons from the moment they were created. They took shape thanks to the extraordinary creative flair of Fulvio Bianconi and Venini‘s artistic ability to shape glass into any form and colour. It was the 1950s, when Venini was experiencing a period of intense creative fervour, marked by high-level collaborations with designers and artists and profound experimentation with raw materials.
More than half a century later, those same vases retain all their evocative power and are reborn today in a new collection that offers a different colour palette. The new combinations of Lilla Menta, Pagliesco and Cristallo reinterpret the original design, respecting its technical principles but with a renewed attention to detail. It is precisely the technique and skilful use of colour that have always been the unmistakable signature of the line, which recreates the effect of a mosaic in glass.
The process involves the hot application of small pieces of coloured glass which, when fused together, create unexpected surfaces, animated by ever-changing chromatic rhythms that capture the eye. Bianconi and Venini achieved this result after a long-standing collaboration that began almost by chance.
One of the leading Italian graphic artists and designers of the post-war period, Bianconi worked throughout his life with the publishing houses Mondadori, Bompiani and Garzanti as a graphic artist and illustrator, but he was always on the lookout for new forms of artistic expression. His arrival in the world of glass, and in particular in Murano, dates back to 1945, when GI.VI.M. commissioned him to design bottles for a series of perfumes at the Venini glassworks. Here he met Paolo Venini and developed a deep passion for Murano art, which combined his love of bright colours, asymmetrical shapes and experimental techniques.
This encounter gave rise to some of the brand’s most iconic pieces: from the famous Fazzoletto to the figures of the Commedia dell’Arte, exhibited in 1948 at the Venice Biennale, from the Sirene to the Forati series, and finally the Pezzati, presented to the public for the first time at the 1950 Venice Biennale and subsequently at the IX Triennale in Milan. More than just a technique, the Pezzati have become icons of Murano design over time, recognisable for their unusual shapes, flattened sections and soft, irregular lines. A synthesis of tradition and bold vision, a symbol of timeless modernity.
