Luciano Nichetto

Luciano NICHETTO was born in Murano (VENICE) on the 5th of June, 1935. He is predestined. He was born as such in that unique place in the world where the meaning of the noun "GLASS" is absolute, where the creation of ethereal masterpieces is practically joined with that magical material, born of a sandy mixture, that when passed through the purification of the fire becomes a "pure spirit."
At the age of 10, he was already in the glassworks, (at the disposition of the older Muranese workers) beginning as an errand boy "garzone," that long apprenticeship which can last more than a decade and will bring to the most talented the coveted position of first-class "Glass Master." Luciano NICHETTO, as a young boy, followed the customary path and in the glassworks "SEGUSO Glass works of Art" (SEGUSO Vetri d'Arte) they saw him follow, with passion and dedication, the Old Masters in their work, thus realizing his long-time dream, the dream of all the Muranese boys who were his contemporaries. At the age of 19 he became a "Glass Master," continuing his work in that prestigious glassworks of Murano for over 20 years, realizing innumerable "pieces" valued in the best tradition of "Venetian glass."

The use of the adjective "Venetian," historically speaking, is obligatory, in such that the glassworks, in the workings of objects of glass for formal as well as everyday use, were born in the area of the Realtino islands, and it was that "Rivoalto" which had to give way to that unnatural, unique, marvelous city which is VENICE. We must not forget, however, that most probably, the trade was already developing in protohistoric times in the legendary TORCELLO. It is only since 1281, however, that artistic glass art has found itself limited to the island of Murano, although very probably it had already been spontaneously relocated there in order to avoid the scourge of fire that in those times often struck the Venetian buildings. This information is rendered necessary in order to understand the artistic evolution of our own, who was moved from that sense of active research, who in the Glass had always seen a component of his very existence, to begin work in another glassworks and dedicate himself to the creation of "artistic Sculptures." This was almost an epic passage for he who was born a blower with respect to the glass tradition, yet found himself working glass "blocks" to give life to new works of art which were sought after by new markets and collectors, in a natural evolution of a changing world. In all this, NICHETTO saw, in a future projection, the possibility to learn new techniques to assimilate and use, in order to make himself more evolved and prepared. And it is this natural curiosity, for everything that is new in his work, which brought him to move to Venezuela, in South America in 1977, and to get a job, in the capacity of "Master" in the glassworks "ICET ARTE MURANO" owned by the AVA's, with his natural propensity to know and to make known. And as it happened for many of his ancestors in centuries past, it is of great honor to him to show people from far-away lands the skill of whom glass is inscribed in one's own DNA, an almost divine predisposition which brought the Muranese to excel worldwide in this impossible art, to show those who never have known the heat of the furnaces from a tender age. The company with whom he worked, with his works, won numerous prizes in Artistic Expositions, including in the United States (Miami.) But after 7 years of residence in Venezuela, he felt nostalgic and decided to return to his beloved Murano, where he quickly gave life to customized artistic accomplishments. This is an important turning point in his life as a man and artist. By now aware of his skill and sufficient experience, he began his own business, giving life to a production of artistic objects using innovative technology, and often coupling other noble and not so noble materials to the glass, (copper, bronze and brass.) In a continuous research of chromatic emotions, he alternated decorations in silver and gold with results that were often exciting. He put to the test unique techniques such as "textiled" glass Luciano NICHETTO was born in Murano (VENICE) on the 5th of June, 1935. He is predestined. He was born as such in that unique place in the world where the meaning of the noun "GLASS" is absolute, where the creation of ethereal masterpieces is practically joined with that magical material, born of a sandy mixture, that when passed through the purification of the fire becomes a "pure spirit."

At the age of 10, he was already in the glassworks, (at the disposition of the older Muranese workers) beginning as an errand boy "garzone," that long apprenticeship which can last more than a decade and will bring to the most talented the coveted position of first-class "Glass Master."

Luciano NICHETTO, as a young boy, followed the customary path and in the glassworks "SEGUSO Glass works of Art" (SEGUSO Vetri d'Arte) they saw him follow, with passion and dedication, the Old Masters in their work, thus realizing his long-time dream, the dream of all the Muranese boys who were his contemporaries. At the age of 19 he became a "Glass Master," continuing his work in that prestigious glassworks of Murano for over 20 years, realizing innumerable "pieces" valued in the best tradition of "Venetian glass."

The use of the adjective "Venetian," historically speaking, is obligatory, in such that the glassworks, in the workings of objects of glass for formal as well as everyday use, were born in the area of the Realtino islands, and it was that "Rivoalto" which had to give way to that unnatural, unique, marvelous city which is VENICE. We must not forget, however, that most probably, the trade was already developing in protohistoric times in the legendary TORCELLO.

It is only since 1281, however, that artistic glass art has found itself limited to the island of Murano, although very probably it had already been spontaneously relocated there in order to avoid the scourge of fire that in those times often struck the Venetian buildings. This information is rendered necessary in order to understand the artistic evolution of our own, who was moved from that sense of active research, who in the Glass had always seen a component of his very existence, to begin work in another glassworks and dedicate himself to the creation of "artistic Sculptures." This was almost an epic passage for he who was born a blower with respect to the glass tradition, yet found himself working glass "blocks" to give life to new works of art which were sought after by new markets and collectors, in a natural evolution of a changing world.

In all this, NICHETTO saw, in a future projection, the possibility to learn new techniques to assimilate and use, in order to make himself more evolved and prepared. And it is this natural curiosity, for everything that is new in his work, which brought him to move to Venezuela, in South America in 1977, and to get a job, in the capacity of "Master" in the glassworks "ICET ARTE MURANO" owned by the AVA's, with his natural propensity to know and to make known. And as it happened for many of his ancestors in centuries past, it is of great honor to him to show people from far-away lands the skill of whom glass is inscribed in one's own DNA, an almost divine predisposition which brought the Muranese to excel worldwide in this impossible art, to show those who never have known the heat of the furnaces from a tender age.

The company with whom he worked, with his works, won numerous prizes in Artistic Expositions, including in the United States (Miami.) But after 7 years of residence in Venezuela, he felt nostalgic and decided to return to his beloved Murano, where he quickly gave life to customized artistic accomplishments. This is an important turning point in his life as a man and artist. By now aware of his skill and sufficient experience, he began his own business, giving life to a production of artistic objects using innovative technology, and often coupling other noble and not so noble materials to the glass, (copper, bronze and brass.) In a continuous research of chromatic emotions, he alternated decorations in silver and gold with results that were often exciting. He put to the test unique techniques such as "textiled" glass and "submerged" glass.

It was in this way that the stupendous series of vases, dishes, and lamps, in whose transparencies the chromatic reflections of our lagoon seem to float, was born. Red sunsets, golden dawns, marine seaweed and blue skies establish themselves to give life to a phantasmagoria of colors at once tenuous, at once aggressive, always sublime in their purity. It seems as if NICHETTO, like many of his predecessors, has the ability to imprison the light and that this confined luminosity, in its turn, shaped the mass in which it found itself living.

There is in all this a sort of symbiosis with Venice, with its impartial character, a connection between the material used, solid yet bodiless and the city, with its contrasts and its dazzling lights. In the revelations of reflected glass objects we find all of the culture and civilization of this enchanting millenary trade which, according to human rules, should have never existed. The idealization of a dream of beauty only to then make it come true in a thousand luminescent flashes, is the legacy of but a few. The Muranese Glass Masters belong to this "Elite," and their skill in transforming "primordial dust" into pure visual poetry, thus exalting the creation, renders them unique among men.

Today Luciano NICHETTO is a man who can boast of his many satisfactions and upon looking back, has no remorse for the physical and moral sacrifices he made in the relinquishing of the best years of his youth. Many of his works are admired in all the world and there are many merchants and collectors, especially in the United States, who display his productions in their public and private galleries. Besides the material gratification, although necessary, we must realize that nothing is worth the satisfaction of creating with your own hands, works which with their presence alone can raise the spirits and guide the mind across paths of beauty and knowledge.

It is the precise sensation of having worked with a material, glass, which has all the characteristics of mystery and the fascination of the impossibility of existence, which lets itself be formed and transformed from an evasive, amorphous mass, into a masterpiece cloaked in light, almost as if this last was the only support of a weight which seems nonexistent. All of this is consented only to a few "ministers" admitted by destiny of birth into this strip of land surrounded by water, in the workshop of a "Vulcano," to compete with the fire and Earth to extract from their viscera , almost by sacrilegious theft, the iridescent chromatism of the rainbow and the incorruptible compatibility of the purest diamond.

Luciano NICHETTO is one of the "simple" men that knew how to combine his talents with the great traditions of the past and with the current necessities of artistic synthesis to give life to something which, besides the representative schemata, can serve as lessons for future generations. An artist who, with his "modest" contribution, consents to the survival of a unique and inimitable art and of a millenary world, the world of the GLASS of MURANO .

Venezia , Giugno 1998.