Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)


Diable1962for Fucina Angeli Venezia, executed by Egidio Costantini, blown glass, with iridescent surface, engraved 'P. Picasso E. Costantini 1962 Fucina Angeli Venezia'height 16 1/2in (42cm); width 9in (23cm); depth 8 1/2in (22cm)
|The Venetian glass maker and entrepreneur Egidio Costantini conceived the idea of inviting the worlds' greatest artists of the time to design works that could be realized in glass. Costantini's vision was to elevate the craft of glass blowing to that of sculpture and painting. Costantini founded the firm, Centro Studi Pittori nell'Arte del Vetro in 1951, later rechristened by artist collaborator Jean Cocteau in 1954 as Fucina degli Angeli (The Foundry of Angels). The logo for the collective was designed by Jean Arp.The first show was held in Murano on April 18, 1953, featuring works designed by the modern masters Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Le Corbusier and Oskar Kokoschka. In the preceding years, further exhibitions followed in Basel, Paris and New York, with works designed by the likes of Hans Arp, Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Lucio Fontana, Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso.During the early 1960s, Peggy Guggenheim became an enthusiastic advocate for the collective, owning a number of works by Funcina degli Angeli, and exhibiting many other examples from the collective in her museum at Pallazzo del Leoni in Venice. This support and patronage culminated in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, holding a major exhibition in 1965 titled Sculptures in Glass, featuring a selection of 33 of the collectives' greatest works. Provenance Fucina Degli Angeli, Venice Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above, 1978)