Pino Signoretto's life and works show how craftsmanship is the result of humility and experience. His hands were his tireless companions: they imposed form on the glass, which is a very difficult material to work with. Glass does not allow waiting or second thoughts: either you finish the work or you throw it away.
His was not a historical family of glassmakers, but of artists in some ways yes. His father played instruments and painted houses. As a child, he lived near a furnace in Murano and was immediately fascinated by the ovens and the fire. He started working, very young, in a glass factory where they made chandeliers and small objects such as favors.
A pupil of master Alfredo Barbini, at the age of 19, Pino Signoretto was already a master glassmaker. It was he who introduced new techniques and tools into this art such as the borsea ricurva (no longer flat) to better grip objects and the oxyhydrogen torch to heat the sculpture more precisely. It was intriguing to see him at work with forks (those used in the kitchen) and pins that he used to create perfect forms.
A frequent guest of heads of state, an honorary citizen of New Orleans, and a renowned master at several schools in the United States and France, he was internationally recognised for his talent. Although he passed away in 2017, Pino Signoretto's glass was and remains one of the symbols of Murano.
THE KNOWLEDGE THAT FLOWS THROUGH THEIR HANDS
When visiting the Venier glassworks you have the sensation of being in an ancient renaissance workshop where the ceaseless work is intertwined with the masters’ creativity, with knowledge of the materials, with rigor, with the desires of noble ladies and patrons, and with the reverent obedience of the assistants.
The Master Glassmakers are undoubtedly the key figures. From a very early age (10-12 years), they have shared their existence with the incandescent glow of glass: the experience and traditions of centuries live in them, renewed through the specialization in few, if not in only one, work process for which they are known and held in high esteem: there is he who as a matter of fact is the master in lamps, he who is the master in sculptures, he who is the master in vases … and they have gained a renown that has even reached important Heads of State and their works are displayed in the most famous museums of the world.
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