Designed and executed at a time when the Murano art glass industry was reinventing itself, this diminutive Mosaico vase seems to capture the essence of spring. It depicts a floral landscape in bloom, using simplified naturalistic forms. What makes the visual impact of this and other Artisti Barovier vases from the period so powerful, is the masterful use of vibrant, semi-transparent murrines combined with an abstract, almost childlike rendering of floral subject matter. In recent years the market for Mosaico vases has risen dramatically and for good reason — their rarity, beauty and quality make them truly desirable objets d’art.
The nearly fifty year tenure of Ercole Barovier as artistic director, designer and owner of Barovier & Toso is unprecedented in the history of Murano glass, and the firm’s success stands as a testament to his singular artistic talent and entrepreneurial genius.
Born in 1889 to a Muranese family that could trace its origins back to the 13th century, Barovier did not train as a glassblower but had a great passion for glass and quickly distinguished himself as an innovative designer. He joined Artisti Barovier in 1919 at the age of thirty and found success designing vases in the mosaic technique. In 1930 he produced the critically acclaimed and award-winning Primavera series, the success of which encouraged him to continue his experiments.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s Barovier’s dedication to the technical mastery of experimental glass brought him international fame. His thick-walled vessels decorated with un-melted pigments, highly textured surfaces, raw metallic inclusions and expressive hot-work applications helped to create a new aesthetic vocabulary for Murano glass in the first half of the 20th century.
During the post-war period, Barovier’s prescient experimentation continued. Exploring the vast potential of glass tesserae arranged in geometric patterns, he re-invented mosaic glass and used it to express the renewed artistic vigor of post-war Italy.
By the time of his retirement in 1972 Ercole Barovier had designed thousands of models for his company. While many of these were never produced, the body of work that was created is staggering in its diversity, creative daring and technical complexity.
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