Archimede seguso murano barware

Murano, Italy

Born 1909 in Murano, Italy, Archimede Seguso is revered as one of history’s finest Venetian glassblowers, known particularly for the intricate vases, necklaces, sculptures , and much sought-after chandeliers  that he produced for his eponymous firm, Vetreria Archimede Seguso (est. 1946).

Typical to the narratives that color Murano’s glassmaking community (see Barovier & Toso), Seguso hails from an uninterrupted lineage of glassmakers that reaches back nearly six centuries. In his late teens, he apprenticed at La Vetreria Artistica Barovier, where—working alongside the likes of Vittorio Zecchin and Flavio Poli—he cultivated a maestro’s sensibility for the practice that would later inform nuanced explorations into revising ancient Murano techniques (what would become his glassworks' signature). To that end, into the 1940s, Seguso contributed to Poli’s sculptured Sommerso (or submerged) output, helping devise the complex technique behind the hand-blown craft in which transparent glass of varying colors and textures were laid, to striking vibrancy, atop each other. The series, Poli’s most renowned, garnered heaps of subsequent awards, including the Compasso d’Oro prize in 1954.

Seguso’s transition away from his family’s firm to the independent environs of his own in 1946 represented a watershed moment in the history of modernist glassmaking—the move, more or less, a precursor to the midcentury’s nascent Studio Glass movement, which saw the broad move from industrial-type glassblowing—e.g., at firms like René Lalique’s in France, where Lalique’s designs were carried out by a large team of workers—to the more artisanal processes of the small, studio furnace headed by a single artist.

Under his own direction, Seguso’s atelier produced across the 1950s and 1960s a virtuoso array of innovative glasswork, characteriz

Have you ever found yourself gazing at the gorgeous window displays of numerous Murano Glass stores in Venice amazed at the infinite possibilities of colors and forms, and wondering about the masters behind them? Lots of Murano Glass artisans work on the Island today and many family workshops have been proudly making Murano Glass for generations, yet none is as famous as Seguso. Behind Seguso label, lays one of Venice’s most marvelous and dazzling stories. This family name conceals secrets to masterful skills, inimitable talent and transcendent works of art.

It all started with Archimede Seguso, born on the island of Murano, in 1909.Shy, brilliant and quite distinguished, Archimede Seguso was a man of intellect, yet at the same time, he used the art of glass making to express himself. Never following any model or predefined idea, Seguso would come up with different methods and techniques never seen before in glass making. It was this boldness mixed with his genius that positioned him as a reference point for other artists and artisans.

With a rather solid history in Murano, the Seguso family had lived and worked on this Venetian island for over 650 years, gaining popularity throughout time for their special glass making methods. They were considered experts thanks to their glass blowing technique, and young Archimede became familiar with the business at the very tender age of 11. He was put to work alongside experienced masters who taught him co

Archimede Seguso redefined a 650-year family history of Murano glass-making with brilliance and novel techniques, elevating him to an exemplar for the maestros of his time as well as for future generations of glassmakers. This next generation included his sons and grandsons, who carried on and further expanded the family legacy of Venetian art glass. The survival and revival of traditional glassblowing combined with unique design are the legacies left behind by a master.

Seguso grew up in the family furnaces of the Soffieria Barovier Seguso and Ferro, where his training began at age 11. By the time he turned 20, he was a maestro in his own right, joining the family business as a partner.

In 1933 the company changed its name to Seguso Vetri D’Arte, and Seguso gained sole control. He collaborated with designers Flavio Poli and Vittorio Zecchin, which allowed him to achieve artistic sovereignty leading to the opening in 1946 of his own furnace, Vetreria Seguso Archimede. There, he could explore his design ideas with creative freedom. In 2007, the 23rd generation of Seguso glassmakers took the lead at Seguso Vetri D’Arte. Brothers Gianluca, Pierpaolo and Gianandrea Seguso carry a six-century dynasty of Seguso glass into the 21st century.

Archimede Seguso’s art glass pays homage to tradition. Seguso studied and mastered techniques from centuries past, but he also pioneered innovative approaches, such as submersion and unconventional color constitutions. He awarded future generations with stunning and unprecedented effects, such as ribbed textures, rings, needle shapes and the appearance of embedded objects.

A lifetime of achievement created by Seguso is honored in museums worldwide, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, MoMA in New York and Museum Kunstpalast in Dusseldorf, to name a few. His exhibit resume spans decades, beginning with XX Biennale, Venezia, in 1936. It includes a 1989 exhibit of “Il Maestro dei Maestri” at