From November 14, 2026, through March 29, 2027, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents
Fucina degli Angeli: Peggy Guggenheim and 20th-century Artistic Glass, a comprehensive
exhibition that sheds light on one of the most visionary chapters of postwar Murano glass
through an in-depth historical analysis of the experiments, collaborations, and relationships
that left a mark on the history of twentieth-century art. Organized by Cristina Beltrami, the
show traces the creative adventure of the Fucina degli Angeli, founded by Egidio Costantini in
the mid-1950s. Peggy Guggenheim’s role is central to this story: she supported Costantini at
crucial moments and contributed to the international success of the project—not only by
acquiring numerous pieces for her collection, also by broadening Costantini’s network to
include leading figures in twentieth-century art and proposing an exhibition strategy that
benefitted from her extensive experience as a gallerist and patron.
“I was happy when Egidio Costantini asked me to help him create glass objects based on
drawings by contemporary artists.”
Peggy Guggenheim, 1964
Born in Brindisi, Apulia, but raised in Venice, Egidio Costantini (1912–2007) experienced the
vibrant atmosphere of 1950s Murano, where internationally renowned artists met with the
most talented glass masters. Murano, with its extraordinary ability to merge tradition,
innovation, and internationalism, became fertile ground for exchanges between artists and
glass masters, yielding innovations that propelled glass beyond its technical and expressive
limits.
Max Ernst
After leading the Centro Studi Pittori nell’Arte del Vetro (1953–55), in 1955 Costantini
inaugurated a gallery specializing in artistic glass, in Campo Santi Filippo e Giacomo, with the
name Fucina degli Angeli, suggested by Jean Cocteau. Costantini followed each phase of the
creative process—from the initial concept, which was often elaborated from a drawing by the
artist, to the translation into glass in the furnaces of Murano, to the presentation of the work to
the public.
Jean Cocteau
Guggenheim contributed to the project especially from the 1960s, when she broadened
Costantini’s scope to include international artists and encouraged him to develop an
exhibition strategy that established the Fucina beyond Italy’s borders. Beginning in 1964,
works by the Fucina were exhibited in leading galleries such as the Galleria del Naviglio in
Milan (1964–65), the Galleria dell’Obelisco in Rome (1965), and eventually the Museum of
Modern Art in New York (1965), at the Sculpture in Glass exhibition—the first exhibition of
glass sculpture organized by a U.S. museum. On this occasion, Time magazine described
Costantini as “a contemporary Venetian visionary out to restore the grandeur that was glass
four centuries ago” (September 17, 1965), cementing his notoriety across the Atlantic.
Jean Cocteau
The exhibition brings together over one hundred works from major international institutions,
including the Fondation Marguerite Arp in Locarno, the Historisches Museum Basel, the
Kunstmuseum Walter in Augsburg, the MUDAC in Lausanne, and the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, alongside works from the Museo del Vetro in Murano, the Archivio Fucina degli Angeli,
and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, as well as from private galleries and collections.
Max Ernst
Starting with the earliest glass creations freely inspired by the ceramics of Georges Braque
and Pablo Picasso, the show explores collaborations between Costantini and some of the
foremost figures of international art, including Arman, Jean (Hans) Arp, Jean Cocteau, Max
Ernst, Paul Jenkins, Oskar Kokoschka, Matta, Dorothea Tanning, and Mark Tobey. Particular
attention is given to collaborations with abstract artists such as Remo Bianco, Giuseppe
Capogrossi e Luigi Veronesi, as well as Lucio Fontana, with whom Costantini explored the expressive possibilities of glass through a selection of Concetti spaziali.Construction (1964), donated to Peggy Guggenheim and now in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Jean Hans Arp
A section of the exhibition examines the relationship between a selection of key figures in Japanese art and Venice during the 1960s and 1970s, including Miki Tomio, Katsuhiko Narita, Omura Mikuni, and Yokoo Tadanori. The final exhibition gallery is dedicated to later collaborations with longstanding associates of the
Fucina such as James Coignard, Pino Mucchiut, and the U.S. architect John C. Portman.
By presenting glass works alongside drawings, paintings, and sculptures by the same
artists, as well as archival material, the exhibition reveals how, from the 1950s, Costantini
made a substantial contribution towards freeing glass from the confines of decorative art,
establishing it as a medium for contemporary art and opening the furnaces of Murano to
some of the leading figures of twentieth-century art.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, published by Marsilio Arte,
edited by Cristina Beltrami and featuring essays by Marianna Rossi and Stefano Turina.
For More information
Visit the Guggenheim Museum Venice HERE
