Large vase in "corroso a rilievi" glass (corroded glass with relief decoration) with rough acid-eaten surface and lid

Created in 1936, corroso (corroded) glass was the fruit of a successful experiment in the exaltation of form. A chemical treatment of the surfaces granted an iridescence that made the glass unique. This monumental example with a lid is the most prestigious of this family of vases walking the fine line between past and future.

Giandomenico Romanelli summarized this glass production as follows: “Scarpa uses glass more as a material to be sculpted, more as a distillate of impressions and suggestions of colour, more as a provocation that challenges the almost obsessive definition that has always distinguished it during the design and fabrication of articles.”

Bibliography

Marino Barovier, Carlo Scarpa. Glass of an Architect, Skira, Milan 1999, pp. 127, 211 no. 524; Marina Barovier (editor), Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947, Skira, Milan, 2012, exhibition catalogue (Venice, Le Stanze del Vetro, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, August 29, 2012 – January 6, 2013), page 219.