Giorgio Ferro 1931–

Born in Murano and the son of the glassmaker Galliano Ferro, Giorgio Ferro attended the Istituto d’Arte di Venezia, dedicating himself initially to painting. He soon went to work as a designer at the Vetreria A.VE.M. where his father had become a partner after the death of its artistic director Giulio Radi (1952). His most significant work of the period is a piece called Anse Volanti, dark colored vessels with iridescent surfaces and ample handles obtained hot directly from the body, which produces a remarkable sculptural effect. When his father, Galliano, left A.VE.M. in 1955 to found his own company, he followed him to become the artistic director of the new furnace, and designed thin blown pieces as well as essentially shaped encased glass pieces. He has been owner of Galliano Ferro since 1972.

Anse volanti

A.VE.M., 1952

Information

Giorgio Ferro Anse volantiA.VE.M., 1952

Glass vessels, one crafted with the use of red trasparente glass, the other in green trasparente glass. Both are heavily iridized. They are typified by their large side handles made by piercing the wall of
the object.

7 1/2 in. high (19 cm)
10 1/2 in. high (26.7 cm)
Exhibitions:
1952, Venice, 26th Biennale Internazionale d’Arte;
2000, New York, Venetian Glass, Museum of Arts & Design;
2001, Milan, Murano: Vetri dalla Collezione Olnick Spanu, Spazio Oberdan.

Bibliography and comparative texts:
B. Nerozzi, 1987, n. 53;
W. Neuwirth, 1987, n. 231;
M. Heiremans, 1989, nn. 3-5;
L’arte del vetro…, 1992, n. 376;
R. Barovier Mentasti, 1992, n. 95;
M. Barovier, R. Barovier Mentasti, A. Dorigato, 1995, n. 90;
Venezia e la Biennale…, 1995, n. 469;
F. Deboni, 1996, p. 23;
H. Ricke, E. Schmitt, 1996, n. 172;
M. Barovier, 1999, p. 191;
Olnick Spanu, 2000, n. 106;
Olnick Spanu, 2001, n. 143;
A. Dorigato, 2002, p. 324.

Workshop

A.VE.M. 1932–

A.VE.M. was founded in 1932 by Antonio Luigi Ferro, his son Egidio, and the maestri glassblowers Emilio Nason, Galliano Ferro, and Giulio Radi. During the '30s the furnace, which was capable of producing refined Venetian glass techniques, worked with Vittorio Zecchin, who created lightweight blown glass pieces, and Emilio Nason, who created Novecento-style sculptures. After 1939, Giulio Radi became artistic director and dedicated himself predominantly to experimenting with metal oxides. After Radi's premature death in 1952, Giorgio Ferro replaced him and acted as artistic director through 1955, the year he left to found a new furnace with his father, Galliano. During the '50s, A.VE.M. collaborated with the painter Luigi Scarpa Croce, and later the designer Anzolo Fuga. Between 1966 and 1972 several collections were designed by the glassmaster Luciano Ferro. A.VE.M. is still active in Murano today.

Anse volanti

A.VE.M., 1952