Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass
February 23 – August 24, 2008
Organized by the Museum of Glass
Presenting sponsor: Rebecca and Jack Benaroya
Additional sponsors: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Russell Investments, Windgate Charitable Foundation, The Boeing Company, Click! Network, The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Tacoma, Wash. (October 31, 2007)— The Museum of Glass presents Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass, the first exhibition to look at Tagliapietra’s art and forty years of his career. Opening February 23, 2008, the exhibition is curated by Susanne K. Frantz, former curator of twentieth-century glass at The Corning Museum of Glass.

Tagliapietra is widely revered as the maestro of glassblowing, an inspiring teacher and the elder statesman linking the glass centers of Venice, Italy and the Pacific Northwest. As a child, Tagliapietra left school and began working in the glassmaking industry on Murano, a small island in the Venetian lagoon. In 1979 at the age of 45, he first came to Seattle in response to an invitation to teach at the young Pilchuck Glass School. American glassmakers were hungry to expand their technical knowledge and skills after a decade of experimentation. Defying criticism from the Murano glass community, Tagliapietra unhesitatingly shared what he knew with artists in the United States and worldwide, universally elevating the art and craft of glassmaking and changing the course of contemporary glass.

Now age 72, Tagliapietra’s artistic mastery and vision continue to influence Studio Glass artists around the world. “Lino’s knowledge of glassmaking methodology is so deep that when combined with his inherent sense of color and design, the results are unparalleled,” says Frantz. “As a designer, he somehow combines two- and three-dimensional patterning with multiple hues into one harmonious, exuberant whole within his mind’s eye. As an unparalleled craftsman, he then proceeds to execute a vision which would be folly for anyone else to even attempt.”

Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect is the first comprehensive retrospective examination of Lino Tagliapietra’s art and career. It represents not only the pivotal and renowned series of artistic work, but also designs made for industry and private objects that have never been exhibited. The exhibition includes 169 objects acquired from the artist’s own collection and collections around the world. Displays will range from an installation of his impressive Endeavor boat series, to groupings of his masterful goblets, to a selection of rare bonboniere, or tiny glass replicas of some of his favorite works given as party favors to loved ones.

A catalogue co-published with the University of Washington Press will include essays by Frantz and internationally acclaimed scholar and glass historian Dr. Helmut Ricke of the museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf, Germany. A detailed chronology of Tagliapietra’s life and his contributions to the history of the visual arts and glass will be included, as will a memoir and technical overview authored by Dante Marioni, renowned Seattle glassmaker and early Tagliapietra student. A DVD of Tagliapietra demonstrating his signature glassmaking techniques in the Museum of Glass Hot Shop will accompany the catalogue.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Tagliapietra will work in the Museum’s Hot Shop for two 5-day Visiting Artist residencies on February 13 – 17 and February 27 – March 2, 2008. Tagliapietra will also give a presentation and book signing on Sunday, February 24. Curator Susanne Frantz will lecture on Saturday, February 23. “Lino Tagliapietra is a living legend in the glass community, and we are thrilled to be collaborating with him,” said Museum of Glass director Timothy Close. “The Museum facility allows visitors the rare opportunity to not only come and watch Lino at work in the Hot Shop, but then to step into the galleries and see his finished work on display and watch a documentary film or hear a lecture in the Theater. This is exactly the type of experience the Museum of Glass wants to provide to our visitors.”

Following its showing at the Museum of Glass, the exhibition will travel to a number of additional venues across the country through 2010.