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| Ercole Barovier |
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| (*) 1889, Murano | | (x)1974, Murano | |
The son of Benvenuto Barovier, one of the most important padroni di fornace of the time, Ercole Barovier was born in 1889.
Having completed his high-school education, Ercole was ready to begin his career in his father's glass-works at around the time the First World War was coming to an end. Such was his progress that, after a short while, he was able to take over completely.
For, right from the very beginning, it was clear that Ercole had a very special rapport with glass. Each brought out the best in the other. Ercole developed new chemical formulae, created new colors, and thought up more efficient ways to manufacture the glass. But his most outstanding skill surely lay in conjuring innovative effects. It was here that his artist genius was given free rein.
During the 1920s, he created a number of vases that merely added to his reputation. These include pieces using mosaic-effects, as well as a set known as Primavera, which were much acclaimed by Gio Ponti, a leading Italian architect and designer.
Other outstanding artistic creations of Ercole's were the vases that went by the name of vetri pesanti. These date from between 1936 and 1940. Examples of these "heavy" artifacts included Autunno Gemmato, as well as collections that went by the names Rostrati and Rugiadosi.
In the late-1940s, Ercole Barovier turned his attention to shape and form. Always alive to what was going on around him in other areas of art, he created the pieces known as bulinato ametista, barbarici, and eugenei, to name but a few. In 1954, he was named Cavaliere del Lavoro by the Italian government. Between that year and 1966, new ideas continued to flow. During this period, his works included the diafani, the millefili, the Argo, the intarsi, and the caccia.
His work was seen at many of the leading exhibitions of the day. The first Monza Triennale, held in 1923, was just one. He also exhibited at the Venice Biennale. The last major show of his work was held at the Correr Museum in Venice in 1989.
Ercole Barovier stopped working just a few years before his death. In addition to his achievements in business and as a hands-on glassmaker, his portfolio consisted of no fewer than 25,000 designs. The works of Ercole Barovier can be seen in many museums worldwide. |
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