Vittorio Zecchin

A Murano artist and painter interested in the decorative arts, and particularly in glass, Vittorio Zecchin (1878–1947), from 1921 to 1925 and in accordance with a practice not seen in Murano before, occupied the position of artistic director of the V.S.M. Cappellin Venini & C. glassworks, founded in 1921 by the Venetian antiquarian Giacomo Cappellin and the young Milanese lawyer Paolo Venini, together with other shareholders, with the intention of offering a sophisticated, modern style of production. Responding to the demands expressed by Cappellin and Venini, Zecchin designed monochrome blown-glass pieces with extraordinary colours and classical essential lines. Products of this kind, clearly different to anything being offered by their contemporaries and in perfect harmony with the changed public taste, marked a decisive turning point in the 20th-century panorama of Murano and contributed significantly to the renaissance of the sector.