Venini- More than 90 years ago, in 1921, Paolo Venini, a Milanese lawyer, and Giacomo Cappellin, a Venetian antique dealer, founded Cappellin Venini & C. The painter Vittorio Zecchin was then artistic director and laid the basis on which the company is still founded today: reinterpretation of traditional schemes, openness towards new artistic trends and high manufacturing skills. He was able to reach all of this thanks to the glass masters of Murano island. Unfortunately, after a few years the company was split in two. The company Vetri Soffiati Muranesi Venini & C. was therefore founded, with Napoleone Martinuzzi as artistic director. He was one of the most important and influential people in the whole artistic world of glass.

During the first years Martinuzzi followed his predecessor’s guidelines, and this is why their works are hard to tell apart. The first signs of a change could be seen during the exhibition in Monza in 1927 where Venini exhibited pieces with different decorative elements such as coloured glass filaments. The following year Martinuzzi brought innovation into the glass world with the “pulegoso” glass. It is characterised by thousands of air bubbles which make it look opaque. He was able to create majestic works thanks to his passion and talent for sculpture. Among these we find the great fountain for the Quadriennale in Rome and Josephine Baker’s famous statue.