The exhibition “The Glass Ark. Animals in the Pierre Rosenberg Collection”, curated by Giordana Naccari and Cristina Beltrami, retraces – in an original and fascinating way – the history of 20th-century Murano glass from an unusual angle: the glass animal. The exhibition will run through November 1, 2021.
It is also possible to visit it online with the new 3D virtual tour and examine in detail, room after room, the extraordinary works on display thanks to the many insights, photographic and video contributions about the production of glass animals in Venice.
The over 750 works of art – representing, among others, elephants, hippos, cats, giraffes, bears, parrots, fish, turtles, foxes and tiny, lamp-worked life-sized insects – belong to the personal collection that Pierre Rosenberg, art historian and former Director/President of the Louvre in Paris, put together over thirty years.
Some of the most famous series are on show, such as the pulegosi [bubble glass] pieces by Napoleone Martinuzzi, the birds by Tyra Lundgren and by Toni Zuccheri for the Venini glassworks. Alongside the Zebrati [zebra-striped] series by Barovier & Toso, the aquariums by Alfredo Barbini and the well-known examples by Seguso Vetri d’Arte, the exhibition also features a vast sample of animals made by lesser-known but equally interesting glassworks from the point of view of the technical and design experimentation of 20th-century Murano glass production. The exhibition also showcases works by living artists such as Cristiano Bianchin, Isabelle Poilprez, Maria Grazia Rosin and Giorgio Vigna that demonstrate the inexhaustible source of inspiration that the glass animal has to offer.
The exhibition set-up is curated by Denise Carnini and Francesca Pedrotti, two stage designers who engaged in setting up a glass zoo. The exhibition also includes an animated video by Giulia Savorani, visual artist and director who, starting from drawings on glass, has created a fairytale cartoon, based on an idea by Giordana Naccari for this occasion.
Due to the limited capacity of our exhibition space, in order to maintain social distancing and avoid queuing, we suggest that you book the day and time of your visit here.
