4. Forth Encounter: Vittorio Ferro (1932-2012)

A chance encounter with vases made by virtuoso Murano glass blower at the beginning of the 21st century, sold by German dealer Design-and-Arts  on eBay, introduced me to the work of Vittorio Ferro (1931-2012), who worked for Fratelli Toso from the age of 13 (1945-) — when he started his apprenticeship under his two uncles; before becoming a 'master' in 1952 — and working there till the firm closed down in 1981.

During the thirty years he worked at Fratelli Toso, Vittorio Ferro developed virtuoso skills in glass making and made some of the most prestigious pieces, including the 'Nerox' series. Above all he became known for his creative use of 'murine'.
Some pieces he made throughout his working life were designed by top designers.

The fact that the vases he produced at Fratelli Toso were designed by others kept him in the shadow of the designers; except among his peers. Although Murano glass was the result of a close cooperation between designers and glass masters, only designers and the owner (who was often the designer) were credited as authors.

When Fratelli Toso closed down, Ferro set out to produce his own work; using the facilities of various 'fornace' — first De Majo, then Fratelli Pagnin, till it closed down in 2010; paying his way by making works for them. Ferro died two years later. He collaborated with Massimiliano Pagnin during those years, and some of the pieces may have been designed by Pagnin.

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In this first vase, the reference to flowers is perceptible in the design that combines an element of realism with a strong sense of formal abstraction and a degree of transparency:

here, by contrast the murine are stretched and dissolve into a more abstract pattern in totally opaque glass:

Here, a checked pattern of murine in yellow and white is interrupted by a transparent band that run around the vase in its upper part; a virtuoso feat:

Here, by contrast, the opaque quality of the glass and its iridescent surface, typical of the 'Nerox' range he produced for Fratelli Toso, act as a background for a sparse punctuation of murine, abstractly suggestive of flowers:

In this vase, perhaps designed by/for Massimiliano Pagnin, Ferro used 'canne' — vertical strips of coloured glass — to produce a vase of striking minimalist design:

The vase below playfully presents an anthology of classical Murano glass-making techniques: murine, filigrana, battuto; in a vase that celebrates process:

Taking the process further, in a way that recalls the free compositions of Dino Martens for A.VE.M, the process is emphasised: to allow colors and forms to assert their autonomy in a profusion and a clash of effects:

In this vase, perhaps also designed by/for Massimiliano Pagnin, murine are combined with and framed by two large red 'canne', making the contrast between the two techniques the 'subject' of the work:

Reminiscent of Paul Klee's geometric compositions, the technique 'a mosaico' adopted here creates a dynamism that animates the surface and blurs the boundaries of the vase:

In this tenth piece, a single red 'canna', inserted in a black opaque glass body — echoing the famous  'Nerox' series he produced for Fratelli Toso — and the addition of a hole, distant echo of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth's sculptures exhibited at the Venice Biennale, confer upon the vase a deliberately sculptural quality: 

An auction organised by design-and arts (he source of all my Ferro purchases but one), enabled me to acquire this vase that, although recalling Dino Martins' designs, very much bears the stamp of Ferro, in the free mosaic-like abstract assemblage of blown up 'murine' that confers upon it its playful dynamism:

The wide selection of Ferro vases auctioned by design-and-arts inspired me to acquire six other vases, which, with the others, gives a good (but not  a full) measure of Ferro's virtuosity in glass:

Seizing the opportunity to acquire these vases during the brief period they were available on the market, following their dissemination by the various heirs, has enabled me to gather a fairly representative selection of works by a virtuoso glass-maker who took advantage of adverse economic factors (the closure of his firm) to become an author in glass.

In the domestic modernist space of the Experimental House, these vases have not been turned into captive museum artefacts, but interact with a wide range of other art works in which they share the space, dynamically...

There is no sign, however, that the history of Murano art glass is being re-written yet; except here and by a few collectors.