Transparent glass blown and shaped freely, 1962, fused together with an iridescent finish, mounted on a Plexiglass base. Diamond engraved on the glass: “Pablo Picasso Fucina Angeli, Venezia - 62 Size: 160 mms (Height without base)

Note: Before embarking on his own glassmaking career, Costantini began as an agent for several Murano glass factories in Venice, which allowed him to work with master glassblowers and learn the intricacies of the trade. He wanted to elevate the craft of glassblowing to the same level as sculpture or painting, so he mediated collaborations between glassblowers, artists, and himself to create glass sculptures based on drawings made by contemporary artists. He went to Paris to promote his project to the most famous artists of the time, and this led to collaborations with Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Gino Severini, Pablo Picasso, Jean Arp, Max Ernst, and others. Picasso’s partnership with Costantini echoes his relationship with Georges Ramie of the Madoura Pottery in Vallauris, France. The two men met in Vallauris in 1954 but their working relationship did not begin until a few years later when Peggy Guggenheim invited the artist to Venice. Whereas the Ramies in Vallris created numerous ceramics with often large editions Costantini translated the artists drawings into glass sculptures. These were made in very small numbers and rarely are found on the market today. They have a luminous reflective quality giving them a certain depth and changeability absent in the ceramic works.

Edition: 36

Provenance:

Egidio Costantini, Fucina Angeli, Venezia - 62 -
Galerie Monsterburg, Venice

3) Private Collection, Basel, Switzerland - purchased from the above 1970/1972

Public Collections: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy.

Exhibitions: Musee des Arts Decoratif, Lausanne, 1972

Literature:

Egidio Costantini - Il Maestro de Maestri e la Fucina Degli Angeli: Catalogue 157/177

Egidio Costantini ei Sui Artisti - From Picasso to Fontana: S 50/107

Condition: In very good condition

Egidio Costantini animated bio