A joint project of Fondazione Giorgio Cini and Pentagram Stiftung
Le Stanze del Vetro
Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
Glass from Finland in the Bischofberger
Collection
curated by Kaisa Koivisto and Pekka Korvenmaa
Over 300 works from the Bischofberger collection celebrate the
beauty of artistic glass in an exhibition featuring masterpieces by
the most important Finnish designers of the 20th century.
Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
13 April 2015 – 2 August 2015
from 10 am to 7 pm, free entrance
closed on Wednesdays
PRESS PREVIEW ON: April 11th, 2015 at noon
Venice (21 January 2015)
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
30124 Venezia, Italia - T. +39 041 522 9138
info@cini.it - stampa@cini.it
info@lestanzedelvetro.it - press@lestanzedelvetro.it
The exhibition Glass from Finland in the Bischofberger Collection,
curated by Kaisa Koivisto, Curator at The Finnish Glass Museum,
Riihimäki, and Pekka Korvenmaa, professor at Aalto University
School of Arts, Design and Architecture (Finland), will open to the public
on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice on April 13th, 2015.
This important exhibition features the best of Finnish and international
design thanks to the unprecedented loan of over 300 glass works from
the Bischofberger private collection. The beauty of artistic glass
features masterpieces by the foremost 20th century Finnish designers:
Aino and Alvar Aalto, Arttu Brummer, Kaj Franck, Göran Hongell,
Gunnel Nyman, Timo Sarpaneva, Oiva Toikka and Tapio Wirkkala.
The exhibition will offer the public a unique opportunity to view, for the
very first time, some very rare objects, often unique or early
production pieces, which Bruno and Christina Bischofberger have
collected with passion and insight over the past forty years. The
uniqueness of these objects reveals the original creative approach of
each artist or designer, and makes this collection of Finnish glass
one of the most important in the world.
In the early twenties, after becoming independent from what was about
to become Soviet Union, Finland used design as its manifesto, in an
attempt to establish its autonomy and thus its cultural sovereignty. Some
of the country’s greatest designers, who had connections with the
international artistic movements, began to use glass to create works of
art that blended tradition and experimentation. As the curators of the
exhibition point out – “Finnish glass started to be appreciated during the
1950s for the quality of its manufacturing process, which on the one hand
ensured its high artistic value, and on the other fostered its industrial
production and ensuing commercial success.”
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
30124 Venezia, Italia - T. +39 041 522 9138
info@cini.it - stampa@cini.it
info@lestanzedelvetro.it - press@lestanzedelvetro.it
After 1932 Finnish glass became known worldwide and served to reveal
the skills and creative talent of those who would soon be regarded as the
visionary geniuses of Scandinavian design – i.e. Arttu Brummer,
Gunnel Nyman, Göran Hongell and spouses Aino and Alvar Aalto.
Their works were put on display in numerous exhibitions, including the
International Exhibition “Arts et Techniques dans la Vie moderne” in
Paris in 1937 and the Milan Triennals of 1933 and 1936, where glass
works from Northern Europe were shown to the public for the first
time. While Swedish glass was well known at this time, Finnish glass
was not yet.
In the early Fifties, after the hiatus due to World War II, a new sense of
freedom and innovation spread through the country, affecting artistic
production. Through the new spirit of optimism and the international
influence designers and artists built up the foundations of what will
become known as “the golden age of Finnish glass”. In order to meet
the functional and psychological demands of its users, designers started
producing objects and works of art that were both aesthetically
sophisticated and mainly referred to nature by the free use of organic
shapes and curves.
Along with internationally acclaimed designers such as Alvar Aalto,
other artists became the new stars of Scandinavian design, such as Kaj
Franck, Gunnel Nyman, and Tapio Wirkkala, who is considered to be
the symbol of the international success of post-war Finnish design.
From now on Finnish design has been exported all over the
world, reaching and influencing the United States, where it was featured
at the prestigious interior design shop Bonniers, which opened on 605
Madison Avenue in New York in 1949. Even tough America already had a
chance to meet Scandinavian design – mainly from Sweden – at an
earlier stage, when in the early 1920s Frederik Lunning opened a Georg
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
30124 Venezia, Italia - T. +39 041 522 9138
info@cini.it - stampa@cini.it
info@lestanzedelvetro.it - press@lestanzedelvetro.it
Jensen shop on Fifth Avenue.
Furthermore, the attention that the international press gave to
Scandinavian design played an important role in determining its
worldwide success: Italian architect Gio Ponti, founder of the magazine
Domus, became strongly committed to the promotion of Finnish glass.
Italian and Finnish design were linked by a common ideal of
functionality and aesthetics, which led to several collaborations
between designers and companies from both countries, as in the fruitful
case of Venini with the Finnish artists Tapio Wirkkala and Timo
Sarpaneva.
Exhibitions such as Nordic Applied Art in Stockholm in 1946, the
Milan Triennals of 1951, 1954 and 1957 and the Helsingborg
Exhibition – also known as H55 – in 1955, curated by Timo Sarpaneva
himself, were received with great praise by critics, and contributed to the
resurgence of Finland from the ashes of the war.
In particular, Finland received a significant number of prizes and awards
at the 10th (1954) and 11th (1957) Milan Triennials, thus establishing
once and for all the importance of Finnish design.
During the Sixties and Seventies, color and energy became the
main focus of Finnish design; the glass works became colorful and
were given elaborate shapes. Oiva Toikka designed glass birds, which
became Iittala’s iconic brand. Through his irreverent approach to the
glass medium and tradition, Toikka represents the connection
between the golden era of the fabulous Fifties and a more
contemporary design.
Thanks to a thorough documentation of the various historical periods, the
works on display at the exhibition Glass from Finland in the
Bischofberger Collection take the visitors from the crystal-clear and
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
30124 Venezia, Italia - T. +39 041 522 9138
info@cini.it - stampa@cini.it
info@lestanzedelvetro.it - press@lestanzedelvetro.it
first colored glass works of the early Thirties to the more
flamboyant and at times “psychedelic” production of the Seventies.
The creations by the sculptor and designer Tapio Wirkkala are
particularly interesting, as in the case of the series entitled Ultima Thule,
in which glass jugs and vases appear like blocks of ice with dripping
surfaces, producing an interplay of transparencies and reflections that
are almost abstract.
The bottle that was designed specifically for Finlandia Vodka, still in
production today, remains one of the best and most famous pieces of the
series.
This rich collection, curated by Kaisa Koivisto and Pekka Korvenmaa
for Le Stanze del Vetro on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in
Venice, brings to the public the greatest examples of a century-long
glass production, with all its declinations and variations, in a celebration
of a timeless design of the highest quality.
Whether the objects are fun, practical or simply decorative, all the works
on display are the result of a creative force and a technical knowhow that have their roots in ancient times but that have shown that the
glass medium can be used in dynamic and original ways, producing
shapes and objects that have rewritten the history of both
Scandinavian and International design.
To quote the motto of Iittala: “The shape that moves. And the movement
never stops”.
The exhibition Glass from Finland in the Bischofberger Collection will
run from 13th April 2015 to 2nd August 2015, from 10 am to 7 pm
(free entrance, closed on Wednesdays). The free educational activities
for students from primary to secondary school will continue during this
exhibition, along with free-guided tours and educational activities for
families and visitors of Le Stanze del Vetro. More specifically the
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
30124 Venezia, Italia - T. +39 041 522 9138
info@cini.it - stampa@cini.it
info@lestanzedelvetro.it - press@lestanzedelvetro.it
educational programs will include activities and workshops, during which
teenagers and children will discover the history and the importance of the
art of glassmaking in Venice, by producing artifacts and participating in
laboratory activities and discussions.
In order to take part in the educational program it is necessary to book in
advance by calling the toll-free number 800 662 477 (Monday to
Friday,
10am
–
5pm)
or
by
sending
an
email
to
artsystem@artsystem.it. For detailed information on the many activities
for different age groups please visit: www.artsystem.it
For further information:
Fondazione Giorgio Cini
stampa@cini.it
T: +39 041 2710280
www.cini.it
Le Stanze del Vetro
press@lestanzedelvetro.it
T: +39 041 5230869
www.lestanzedelvetro.it
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore
30124 Venezia, Italia - T. +39 041 522 9138
info@cini.it - stampa@cini.it
info@lestanzedelvetro.it - press@lestanzedelvetro.it