Toni Zuccheri began designing glass for Venini in the 1960s. The son of a painter of animals, Zuccheri inherited his father’s love of nature and the natural world and he would go on to create vessels and sculptures unlike anything seen before. His elaborate glass birds, wildlife, and plant forms are recognized as high design, but his impact on Venini and on the world of glassmaking is perhaps underappreciated. Zuccheri’s devotion to nature was profound and his use of glass as a medium to express this connection seems to have broadened the potential of the material itself. His vases and sculptures perfectly express Zuccheri’s unique understanding of glass as a tool for sculpture— his chosen forms make the most of opacity, denying all of the usual properties of glass, save its plasticity. Zuccheri’s alluring tree trunk vases, with gold leaf and attached bronze bees, take glassmaking to new heights and exemplify the artist’s passion for nature above all else. In addition to Venini, Zuccheri would design decorative works and sculptures for Barovier & Toso, VeArt, and other esteemed firms.
Irving Richards founded Raymor, a leading American design company in the mid-20th century, known for importing and distributing modernist furniture, lighting, and decorative objects. With a focus on Italian, Scandinavian, and American designers, Raymor introduced modern European styles to post-World War II America.
Raymor's collections featured designers like Gio Ponti, Ettore Sottsass, and George Nelson, helping shape mid-century modern aesthetics and making high-quality design more accessible.
A key success was Richards’ promotion of Russel Wright's work, which gained widespread popularity through Raymor. Richards collaborated with Wright to launch Russel Wright, Inc., further expanding the reach of Wright’s iconic designs, particularly his American Modern dinnerware line. This partnership underscored Raymor’s role not just as a distributor, but as a driving force in advancing modernist design.
Throughout his career, Irving Richards played a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of 20th-century design, particularly American design. His visionary approach not only popularized modern forms but also redefined them as both functional and stylish, making them accessible and desirable for everyday use in American homes. By championing innovative designers and fostering collaborations, Richards left an indelible mark on the modernist movement, cementing his legacy as a driving force behind the widespread adoption of modern design in postwar America.
Toni Zuccheri 1937–2008
Born in 1936 in San Vito al Taglimento, Toni Zuccheri was the son of renowned Italian metaphysical painter Luigi Zuccheri whose work was focused predominantly on the depiction of fantastic animals and birds. From an early age Toni demonstrated an innate capacity for drawing and possessed a great sensitivity toward nature and animals, birds in particular.
A few years after moving to Venice with his family in 1945, he enrolled in the Academy of Architecture and studied under Franco Albini, Ignazio Gardella, Carlo Scarpa and others. In the early 1960s he began to study and work at Venini where, in collaboration with Gio Ponti, he engaged in intensive experimentation with glass; the culmination was the development of Vetro Grosso, a new type of glass created from dense vitreous pastes combined with murrine, raw pigment, shards of Filigrana canes and fine wire mesh.
Auction Results Toni Zuccheri
