A master glassmaker, designer, and entrepreneur, Archimede Seguso is credited with the rediscovery of a so-called a massetto technique that permits sculptures to be created in solid glass in Novecento style.
Son of glassmaster Antonio Seguso, he began working at Vetreria Artistica Barovier when he was only eleven years old. In 1933, he founded Barovier Seguso & Ferro, where he was foreman of the first team assigned to executing Flavio Poli’s designs and forging thick, solid vases, lamps, and sculpture. After selling his share in the company in 1946, he opened Vetreria Artistica Archimede Seguso, in such way ensuring his complete artistic independence.
A master artisan and creator of nearly all the company’s creations and an extraordinary technical innovator, Seguso also rediscovered ancient glassblowing techniques to create his famous Filigrane, a light type of blown glass with different textures. These were complemented by other series, his Merletti, his Piume, and coral and golden glass vases done during the ‘50s. Between 1960 and 1970, he created intensely polychromatic pieces with overlapping bands, continuous coil, in filigrana stellata and with optical illusion.
From 1936 to 1966, he took part in eleven editions of the Venice Biennale and displayed his works at the Milan Triennials and the 1958 Brussels Expo. His work has been exhibited at retrospectives in Italy and all over the world (New York 1989, Japan, 1990). His latest creations include his Rotture series sculptures in solid sommerso glass.
