The Altarese Museum of Glass Art is pleased to invite you on Saturday 18 December from 16:00, to the inauguration of the XIIth edition of Natale SottoVetro , our traditional Christmas event.

For the occasion, the rooms of Villa Rosa will host the exhibition La Fratelli Toso: historical glass from 1930 to 1980 , previously presented at the Casina delle Civette at the Museum of Villa Torlonia in Rome.

The exhibition, through the selection of more than 5 0 glass works from the vast private collection of the historic Murano glass factory, offers the opportunity to observe the extraordinary development of its manufacture, from 1930, the date of its foundation, until 1980, the year of the closure. I Fratelli Toso, a family-run company, was the first to recover the ancient craft techniques and specialize in the ancient processing of murrina, which over time has become its trademark.

At the same time they ventured into the creation of complex artistic productions such as that of a huge chandelier for the inauguration of the Murano Glass Museum, which guaranteed them to obtain the gold medal. The elegance of the shapes and the strength of the colors described by Ivano Balestrieri are also due to the skill of the master-designers who worked for the glassworks such as Ermanno Toso, Pollio Perelda and Rosanna Toso, who created many of the specimens visible in the exhibition; limited editions, if not unique pieces, designed and produced to be presented in important national and international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale.

The exhibition La Fratelli Toso: historical glass from 1930 to 1980, offers the public a historical-artistic journey able to outline the evolution of the taste and fashion of Italian glass design of those years, in a balanced balance between the Venetian tradition and the most innovative experimentation of the family, characterized by color combinations and unusual designs capable of enhancing the forms.

The works on display will be accompanied by drawings and sketches from the historical archive of the glassworks, where documents, photographs and catalogs relating to the life of the company since the second half of the nineteenth century are preserved.