Incollect Magazine - Issue 14

28 www.incollect.com Charles Fuller, L’Art De Vivre Fontana Arte designs never seem to go out of style. Why is that? It all comes down to the purity of the design and the sophistication of the craftsmanship. Adapting ancient artisanal glass-forming techniques into new ways to stretch the boundaries of what glass could do, they led the way in rejecting the fussiness of traditional Murano work and opened new horizons for the glassmaking trade. Rather than focusing, as its predecessors had, on the decorative qualities of blown molten glass, Fontana Arte embraced the architectural modernity of transparent, plate glass, reshaping it into sensuous, abstract forms – sculptures of light – in ways that were avant- garde then and feel avant-garde today. What qualities do you look for when purchasing Fontana Arte pieces? The best Fontana Arte pieces are harmonious and gracefully proportioned, while lending their forward-looking contours to the most contemporary of interiors, even as they celebrate the skilled handwork of Fontana Arte’s accomplished artisans. One example is a recently acquired, rare chandelier designed by Max Ingrand, circa 1960, with architectural black metal struts that soar upwards above an umbrella-shaped glass bowl. Another equally rare chandelier by Ingrand, created in 1956, delicately folds glass into origami petals in a completely new way, and that, to me, prefigures the ribbonlike metamorphosis of metal by contemporary architects such as Zaha Hadid. An extraordinary and rarely seen chandelier by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte. Abstracted black metal struts soar from the 31” glass bowl to the shaft. The light is di used through a beautifully wrought heavy satin glass bowl, encircled by a rich hand-ground beveled edge. An architectural statement in glass. Italy, circa 1960. Available from L’Art De Vivre on Incollect.com. Photo: Dan Mayers Rare Max Ingrand Pendant Chandelier for Fontana Arte. An extremely rare work with a futuristic sculptural form. Elliptically beveled glass petals with stunning sculpted hyperboloid bronze mounts. Italy, circa 1956. Available from L’Art De Vivre on Incollect.com. Photo: Dan Mayers