Stories of factories. Stories of families., Exhibition Glass Museum, Venice

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Stories of factories. Stories of families.:

BROTHERS TOSO

From 12 July to 24 November 2025

Glass Museum

Fondamenta Giustinian, 8, Venice

Closed today: open tomorrow at 10:00

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The Fratelli Toso glassworks, founded in 1854 by the initiative of six Toso brothers, was one of the most renowned glassworks in the artistic panorama of Murano in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In 2024, it celebrated its 170th anniversary. Over the years, generation after generation, the Tosos with their diverse vocations and skills - masters, technicians, designers, managers - have contributed to the success of a productive reality that has been able to constantly update and renew itself thanks to collaborations with external artists and designers, while always maintaining a family character. For this special occasion, Fratelli Toso presents itself once again with a retrospective on its best artistic production of the twentieth century, told through the work of artistic directors and designers and with particular attention to one of the highlights of its production: the murrine. The evolution of its murrine over time, the partnerships with prominent artists, the contribution of designers and glass masters who have shaped the artistic and productive path of the glassworks: all this is narrated through the glass works and the archival material fully preserved by the family. Original sketches, drafts, photographs, and documents represent fundamental material to rediscover this history. Up to the First World War, the production focuses on models in Antique Style and Modern Style and on the famous series of Murrini, Phoenician, and Floral, not forgetting the collaborations with internationally renowned artists such as Hans Stoltenberg Lerche. This is followed by the wonderful series of small murrine artifacts from the twenties and the production of pulegoso glass from the thirties. However, the period of greatest artistic success for the company corresponds to the period between the forties and the late sixties, thanks above all to the work of designers Ermanno Toso and Pollio Peralda and the skill of glass masters like Licio Zuffi and Vittorio Ferro. Ermanno has been the artistic director of Fratelli Toso from the late forties to the sixties: he is responsible for the renewal of the classic murrine, the true trademark of the glassworks from the post-World War II period onwards: masterpieces with a modern aesthetic, but always linked to the historic family tradition. Pollio Perelda, a designer for the glassworks from 1948 to 1964, contributes with a series of works with more abstract motifs where his background as a painter is clearly visible. Nor should we forget the work of Rosanna Toso, the only woman with a managerial role in the company's history, capable of designing wonderful murrine works, elegant and modern, as well as being a perfect interpreter of glass minimalism in the seventies: to her and her cousins, architects Giusto and Renato Toso, we owe the great artistic renewal of production from the sixties onwards, both for objects and for tableware and lighting. Their production has given ample space to crystal glass and monochromatic glass, often conceived as real sculpture. Decade after decade, the production renews itself reaching peaks of absolute stylistic and technical excellence to keep pace with the contemporary market, confirming that Fratelli Toso is one of the great protagonists in the history of Murano glass.

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Tempo Spazio Esistenza

European Cultural Centre, Venice

	opens - closes	last entry
monday	10:00 - 18:00
tuesday	10:00 - 18:00
wednesday	10:00 - 18:00
thursday	10:00 - 18:00
friday	10:00 - 18:00
saturday	10:00 - 18:00
sunday	10:00 - 18:00

Stories of factories. Stories of families.:

BROTHERS TOSO

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