the glass ark, an exhibition featuring pierre rosenberg's glass animal collection

le stanze del vetro in venice is presenting the glass ark, an exhibition featuring the extraordinary glass animal collection of pierre rosenberg, former director/president of the louvre in paris. showcasing over 750 works of art representing all types of wildlife, the exhibition retraces the history of 20th-century murano glass from this unusual angle.

images by enrico fiorese
video © designboom

curated by giordana naccari and cristina beltrami, the glass ark at le stanze del vetro puts together the glass animals collected by pierre rosenberg during his thirty years of regular visits to venice. at a time when this kind of glass production was still considered as a type of souvenir, rosenberg showed a passion that translated into an extremely original and vast collection partially shown on this exhibition. from elephants, to hippos, cats, giraffes, fish, foxes and tiny lamp-worked life-sized insects, the show is both playful and eclectic.

‘in the 20th-century, murano produced a vast repertoire of glass animals which, on the one hand are fascinating because of the infinite interpretations of the subject and on the other bear witness to an age-old technique, and into which this exhibition offers a very personal and original insight,’ comments the official release. ‘glass animals are distinct from bestiaries in other media for two main reasons: they never display fierce poses, which are typical of more traditional animalier sculptures, and above all they are never conceived as a toy.’

as evidence of the inspirations of the animalier subject, the exhibition will also include sculptures by living artists such as cristiano bianchin, marcantonio brandolini d’adda, franck ehrler, massimo nordio, isabelle poilprez, maria grazia rosin and giorgio vigna. an animated video by giulia savorani, visual artist and director who, starting from drawings on glass, has created a fairytale cartoon, based on an idea by giordana naccari will also be present.

for those who won’t be able to reach venice, it will be possible to visit the exhibition online here.