Organised and promoted by the Giorgio Cini Foundation Centre for Studies on Glass, this conference sets out to explore various aspects of the life and work of the celebrated artist Napoleone Martinuzzi (1892-1977). Due to be held on 5 June 2013, the conference can be seen as the ideal complement to a solo exhibition later in the summer. Curated by Marino Barovier, the exhibition will be devoted to Martinuzzi’s creations for the Venini glassworks in the period when he held the position of artistic director from 1925 to 1932. In addition to his activities at Venini and the importance of his position, which decreed his fame, Martinuzzi was principally a sculptor and, very interestingly, deeply involved in the main artistic developments of his day. So among other things, the conference will focus on his friendship
with Gabriele D’Annunzio, his periods spent training in Venice and Rome, an unusual story about his involvement with war memorials, his participation at Venice Biennales, and his role as artistic director of the Murano Glass Museum (1922-1931). Moreover, there will be an analysis of his enterprises with the architect Angiolo Mazzoni, who chose him to work on many decorative projects throughout Italy, from Palermo to Gorizia. As regards his glass works, some little known aspects will be presented at the conference,
such as the story behind his highly acclaimed and “amusing” succulent plants. All these various aspects will fill out the art-historical profile but also the elusive personality of a man who was always present in the crucial artistic developments in the Italy of his age.