Exhibition catalogue edited by Marino Barovier and Carla Sonego

Born in San Vito al Tagliamento (Pordenone) but Venetian by adoption, Toni Zuccheri (1936–2008) trained at the school run by his father, Luigi, a painter of animals, and then attended the Istituto Universitario di Architettura [University Institute of Architecture] of Venice where he graduated in 1968. While still a student, at the end of 1961 he came to the Venini firm — instead of his father — to design a bestiary in glass which Ludovico de Santillana wished to produce to realise an idea of Paolo Venini.

In this way, almost by chance, began an association which would endure, even if discontinuously. At the Venini glassworks he concentrated enthusiastically on research and experimentation with the glass material and with time acquired a remarkable understanding both of the hot and cold processing techniques.

This volume, arising out of in-depth research based on partially unpublished material from the Venini historical archives and from the personal archives of the artist, illustrates the achievements of the association with a sequence of about two hundred models, accompanied by drawings and period photographs.