Vittorio Zecchin 1878–1947

Painter, decorator, and designer Vittorio Zecchin was the son of a glassblower from Murano. Upon graduating from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, he joined the Secessionist movement of Cà Pesaro where he showed his paintings inspired by the Viennese movement on many occasions. In 1913, in Munich, together with Teodoro Wolf Ferrari, he exhibited glass panels and vessels a murrine made by the Artisti Barovier, which represented the attempt to bring the Secessionist style to Murano glass. From 1921 to 1925, he was artistic director of the Vetri Soffiati Muranesi Cappellin Venini & C., where he created lightweight glass pieces, classically inspired and delicately colored, which earned him immediate success in Italy and abroad. Inspired by the styles painted in the works of sixteenth-century painters in the Veneto, these vessels were the first modern works in Murano glass. After a short period as artistic director of the Maestri Vetrai Muranesi Cappellin & C., he collaborated with S.A.L.I.R. in the ’30s, providing drawings for glass engraving and personally decorating glass with enamels. He occasionally worked for Ferro Toso (1930), A.VE.M. (1932), and Seguso Vetri d’Arte (1933-34). At Fratelli Toso (1938), he created the elegant goblets Leggerissimi. During the ’20s and ’30s, Zecchin also designed tapestries, mosaics, embroidery, ceramics, furniture, silverware, all of which he exhibited at the Biennale di Venezia and the Biennale di Monza. During the last years of his life, he dedicated himself to teaching.

Photograph by Luca Vignelli
Neri e rossi
Maestri Vetrai Muranesi Cappellin & C., ca. 1925

Vittorio Zecchin Neri e rossiMaestri Vetrai Muranesi Cappellin & C., ca. 1925

Vessels in amethyst glass with trim
in red pasta vitrea.
Acid stamped: M.V.M. Cappellin Murano.
5 5/8 in. high (14.3 cm)
9 5/8 in. high (24.5 cm)
2 3/4 in. high (7 cm)

Exhibitions:
2001, Milan, Murano: Vetri dalla Collezione Olnick Spanu,
Spazio Oberdan.

Bibliography and comparative texts:
Catalogue M.V.M., n. 5677;
H. Ricke, E. Schmitt, 1996, p. 16;
Olnick Spanu, 2001, n. 12.

Maestri Vetrai Muranesi Cappellin & C.  1925–1932

M.V.M. Cappellin & C. was founded in 1925 by Giacomo Cappellin after the closing of Cappellin Venini & C. Vittorio Zecchin, a painter from Murano who had worked for Cappellin Venini, continued his collaboration with Cappellin for a short time, designing soffiati, blown glass pieces characterized by delicate colors and pure lines. At the end of 1926, following Zecchin's departure, the young Carlo Scarpa took over the artistic direction of the company. Initially, he proceeded along the course taken by his predecessor, creating lightweight blown pieces with simple geometric forms. These were followed by many collections of refined elegance characterized by various transparent textures and often distinguished by vivid colors. Despite the remarkable success at the 1930 Biennale di Monza, M.V.M. Cappellin & C. was forced to close in January 1932. This was most likely the result of inefficient financial management.

Neri e rossi
Maestri Vetrai Muranesi Cappellin & C., ca. 1925