Maestro Lino Tagliapietra
Maestro Lino Tagliapietra, born in 1934 in Murano, Italy, has an astonishing 70 - plus - year journey in the world of glass.
At just 11 years old, he became an apprentice glassblower under the renowned glassmaker Archimede Seguso. Even as a youth, his remarkable dexterity with glass was evident. By the age of 21, he was bestowed with the prestigious title of “Maestro,” a testament to his exceptional skills at a young age.
Early in his career, he worked with other master glassblowers in Murano factories. By the late 1960s and 70s, he started developing and creating his own designs. In 1977, he became the head glassblower for Effe Tre International. In the 1980s, he was well - known for his collaborative work with prominent American glass artists like Chihuly and Dan Dailey. However, in the 1990s, his own unique glass artworks began to gain significant recognition.
His glass forms are firmly grounded in 20th - century Italian design. Each piece is a showcase of classical Muranese glassmaking techniques, characterized by bold colors and exuberant patterning. He often creates blown - glass sculptures in series, naming them after places he's visited (e.g., Bilbao, Seattle Sunset, Maui, Fuji) or after the shapes of the pieces (e.g., Dinosaur, Foemina, Angel Tear, Masai). His work conveys a sense of vibrant optimism and effortless virtuosity.
His art is featured in over fifty international museums, such as the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He has received numerous awards, including the IIC Lifetime Achievement Award from the Instituto Italiano Cultura in 2009 and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from The Ohio State University in 2011. In 2021, after more than 75 years in the glass - blowing furnace, he retired from active glass - blowing, but his influence lives on. Art historian Tina Oldknow noted that his dissemination of the Venetian glass vocabulary to artists worldwide, enabling the creation of works that would never have been produced in Venice, is one of his most important legacies. He truly pioneered an artistic industry, not for commerce, but for the love of art.
Lino Tagliapietra: Sculptor in Glass
