Venini
The origins of the famous Italian glassworks Venini date back to 1921, when Paolo Venini (1895 1959), a Milanese lawyer and descendant of an ancient family of master glassmakers, and Giacomo Cappellin (1887-1968), a Venetian antique dealer, founded Cappellin Venini & C. on the island of Murano. Under the artistic direction of Vittorio Zecchin, the Cappellin and Venini manufactures high-quality Renaissance-style vases, jugs, glasses and chalices. In 1925, following a quarrel with Zecchin, Cappellin and Venini split their company: Venini chose the name Vetri Soffiati Muranesi Venini & C. and hired the visionary Napoleone Martinuzzi as artistic director, and Venini soon became synonymous with absolutely innovative and exuberant lighting and artistic glass objects. From 1927 to 1932, Venini explored a range of new glass-making techniques (such as glass paste, flashed glass, or pulegoso glass), producing experimental and extravagant shapes. The factory’s reputation for innovation grew thanks to national exhibitions and fairs, such as the Biennale in Venice and Monza, and the Triennale in Milan. During this period Venini collaborated with Gio Ponti Pietro Chiesa, Emilio Lancia, Michele Marelli, Tomaso Buzzi, and Carlo Visconti di Modron in the creation of Il Labirinto, an association for the promotion of modernist design.
In 1932, Martinuzzi decided to devote himself exclusively to sculpture, and Venini’s artistic direction was taken over by architects Tomaso Buzzi and Carlo Scarpa, and their modernist vision led the factory down yet another revolutionary path. Scarpa’s main interest, the capture and amplification of light, and its interaction with glass, resulted in the invention of new techniques such as wrought, woven, granular, and murine glass. During the Second World War Venini continued to produce modern glass objects, often collaborating with important mid-century designers and architects such as BBPR, Fulvio Bianconi, Roberto Menghi, Tobia Scarpa, Massimo Vignelli, and Tapio Wirkkala, as well as Carlo Scarpa and Gio Ponti Upon Paolo Venini’s death in 1959, his son-in-law Ludovico Diaz De Santillana became the owner of the company, which in the 1970s was managed by Ludovico’s daughter Laura, until the company was taken over by the Gardini and Ferruzzi families in the 1980s. Until the end of the century Venini continued to work with design talents such as Gae Aulenti, Mario Bellini, Alessandro Mendini, Timo Sarpaneva, and Ettore Sottsass. In 2001 Venini was bought by Italian Luxury Industries.
