Vittorio Zecchin 1878-1947.
Painting and Decorative Arts in Venice
International Conference
The sixth international conference organized by the Glass Study Center – focussing on the designers who have collaborated with the Venini glassworks – will take place on 14 March 2017. The conference will be dedicated to the Murano artist Vittorio Zecchin (1878 – 1947).
After graduating from Venice fine art school, Zecchin soon stood out for his impatience with the late 19th-century verista culture and, on the contrary, his interest in some of the new ideas stemming from the Venice Biennale, which led him to pursue research into Symbolism and the works of the Middle-European avant-gardes. Having taken part in the intense season of exhibitions with Ca’ Pesaro as a driving force in Venice (at this time he made and showed tapestries, embroidery and enamelled glass), Zecchin came into contact and collaborated with various people active in the city, such as the painter Teodoro Wolf Ferrari and the glassmakers Artisti Barovier. In his prominent role as artistic director of Cappellin Venini (1921-1925) and then M.V.M. Cappellin & C. (from 1926), he designed glass with an innovative impact and original refinements without ever neglecting research into the stylisation of form.
The main contributions will address Zecchin’s practice and inventive skills, exploring his interests and competences, starting with his Venetian background. The conference will also focus on his personal approach to the decorative arts, on the close relationship between painting, glass and applied arts in the Italian and international scenario and on Zecchin’s participation in the major events of the time, such as the Monza Biennale exhibitions between 1923 and 1927.
