Alfredo Barbini, Chinese Woman, Modernist Murano Art Glass Sculpture, ca. 1960s

Details

Description

Italian Modernism
Alfredo Barbini
Chinese Woman
Murano Art Glass Sculpture
ca. 1960s

DIMENSIONS
Height: 28 inches
Width: 3-3/4 inches
Depth: … Read more Italian Modernism
Alfredo Barbini
Chinese Woman
Murano Art Glass Sculpture
ca. 1960s

DIMENSIONS
Height: 28 inches
Width: 3-3/4 inches
Depth: 5-3/8 inches

ABOUT SCULPTURE
This captivating sculpture, dating from around 1960, embodies the essence of both elegance and minimalism. It presents a graceful, standing figure of a Chinese woman, poised with an air of mysticism, draped in traditional ethnic Chinese attire and crowned with a delicately sculpted hat. Rendered in the artist's signature laconic style, the work is a perfect example of mid-century modernism's refined aesthetic, where simplicity and sophistication merge. Crafted from solid white lattimo (milk) glass, the piece exudes a serene luminosity, with the soft, milky surface adding depth and a sense of ethereal beauty to the sculpture. The combination of fluid form and restrained detail invites contemplation, capturing a moment of timeless cultural elegance through the artist's unique, understated vision.

ABOUT ARTIST
ALFREDO BARBINI (1912-2007)o Barbini, a glass artist born in 1912 on the islands of Murano in the lagoon of Venice, Italy, was one of Murano's leading figures of the twentieth century. His parents were members of families which had been prominent in the glassmaking industry on Murano for generations as glassblowers and bead-makers.

Barbini began his long career in 1925 at the age of 13, working in the S.A.I.A.R. Ferro Toso factory. In 1929 he joined Cristalleria di Venezia e Murano as a master glassblower. He left that firm in 1932 for employment with a glass workshop in Milan, but returned to Murano to work first at the newly formed Zecchin & Martinuzzi firm and then with Seguso Vetri d'Arte. From 1936 to 1944 he was a partner and master glassblower at Societa Anonima Vetri Artistici Murano, known as S.A.V.A.M.

Following World War II Barbini worked as master glassblower and designer successively with Archimede Seguso and Napoleone Martinuzzi, then became a partner with Vetreria Vistosi and, later, Gino Cenedese. With financial assistance from the firm of Salviati & C., for whom he produced products, he formed in 1950 his own glass firm, Vetreria Alfredo Barbini (reorganized in 1983 as Alfredo Barbini Srl). His firm exhibited his work at the Venice Biennales from 1950 to 1961. He died in 2007.

Among numerous other honors, Barbini was awarded the "Osella d'Oro" by Venice's Associazione degli Industriale and the honorary title "Commendatore" and was named "1989 Venetian of the Year" by the Settimare Association. See less