Tomaso Buzzi (1900-1981) & Venini

Rare "latimo" and "pulegoso" blown glass floral suspension composed of a central bowl and sixteen palms. Circa 1932-1934 Dim. Diam: 70 cm Perfect condition. Bibliography: Several variations are reproduced in the monograph dedicated to Tomaso Buzzi (see images). Biography: After graduating in architecture from the former Regio Istituto Tecnico Superiore, now the Politecnico di Milano, in 1927 he joined the association for the dissemination of modern figurative art "Il Labirinto", the Italian answer to the Wiener Werkstätte, along with Paolo Venini, Michele Marelli, Gio Ponti, Carla Visconti di Modrone, Emilio Lancia and Pietro Chiesa. In the 1920s and 1930s, especially during the Deco period, Buzzi was a renowned designer and one of the preferred architects of Milan's elite bourgeoisie. In 1932, when the Venini glass company lost the design services of sculptor Napoleone Martinuzzi, who left to set up his own factory, Tomaso Buzzi became the factory's artistic director. He designed a series of classically shaped vases, obtained through the elaboration of traditional techniques. The young architect's meticulous study of lighting design and love of experimentation led to major innovations in Murano glass luminaires. The shapes of his objects are inspired by ancient sources as diverse as Persian urns and Etruscan animal-shaped jugs. Buzzi has perfected a complex method of glass layering that produces deep, luminous pastel colors ranging from pink and peach to sea green and slate blue. The applied arts were one of Buzzi's favorite fields of creative imagination, with designs for furniture, ceramics, lace, lamps, clocks and all manner of furnishings. A tireless draughtsman, connoisseur and collector of works of art, he has always accompanied this culture with particular attention to the world of craftsmanship and workshop practice. As a collaborator of Gio Ponti, he was involved in the organization of several national and international applied arts events (Milan Triennale, Enapi pavilions, Amsterdam International Exhibition, National Sports Exhibition, etc.). In 1956, having voluntarily reduced his professional commitments, he bought La Scarzuola in Umbria, in the province of Terni, a former Franciscan convent with adjoining land, which he transformed into his personal residence, thus realizing his lifelong dream of a fantastic architectural complex with strong esoteric values, halfway between a park and a sapiential acropolis, with eloquent titles: the Boat of Souls, the Stone Whale, the Tower of Despair, the Ladder of Life, the Temple of Eros, the Well of Meditation, the Theater of the Bees, the Termite Mound. On the one hand, Buzzi created a place of worship for St. Francis himself (which is therefore one of the most important places linked to the Assisi saint) and, on the other, he created his own "ideal city" in the surrounding park, drawing on the theme of artistic madness, the theatrical stage and ruin, which acts as a profane counterpart to the sacred world of the convent. Conceived by Buzzi as a rethink of his entire artistic and intellectual career, the Scarzuola remains unique in the panorama of contemporary Italian and European art and architecture, just as the architect's work and figure are surprising in their originality and inventiveness, the importance of which has yet to be sufficiently disseminated and promoted.