A UNIQUE AND IMPORTANT 'ACQUARIO', 1930

Born in Murano in 1892, Napoleone Martinuzzi was Artistic Director at Venini between 1925 and 1931. During this relatively brief period, Martinuzzi was able to transform and update dramatically the product range of the muranese firm, challenging the traditional transparency and lightness of Vittorio Zecchin’s glass. Napoleone Martinuzzi’s contribution to the success of the firm is grounded in his sculptural approach to glassmaking which led to the creation of vast array of innovative pieces emblematic of the Novecento style. Martinuzzi experimented with the vast possibilities of glass, skilfully translating volume, mass and body into form, inspired both by the realm of nature and the forms of ancient roman glass. The Acquari series was exhibited by Venini in 1930 at the XVII Venice Biennale and the IV Monza Triennale and typifies Martinuzzi’s remarkable approach to glassmaking. Combining his great imaginative flair with an extraordinary technical complexity, each vase from the series represented a small complex scenography. The pieces were conceived as table lamp bases: the fume glass vase contained small scenes populated by sea creatures, algae, fish and bubbles. Martinuzzi intended for each vase to be filled with water so that the reflections of the light would create a highly evocative scene from a hidden underwater world. The series is representative also of the great creative freedom that Paolo Venini offered to his artistic director together with his commercial acumen. Included in the exhibition dedicated to Martinuzzi’s work at Venini, organised at Fondazione Cini, Venice, in 2013, the present lot is a unique example from this series of exceptional impact pieces. The vase in clear smoke-grey glass contains a blossoming brunch in lattimo and deep sapphire glass. Approximately twenty designs for this series are documented, however, only few examples are known to exist.