Le Stanze del Vetro, a joint cultural initiative of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice and Pentagram Stiftung, a Swiss foundation for the promotion of 20th Century art glass, in collaboration with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs of Paris (MAD Paris) intends to organise an important exhibition of Maurice Marinot’s creative work from 24 March to 28 July 2019. The exhibition will be the first homage paid to him outside France after the exhibitions of Paris in 1990 and Troyes in 2010. This event is intended to showcase, on the occasion of the Venice Biennale, the genius of this entirely exceptional creator. For Maurice Marinot (1882-1960) is indeed a case apart and a unique personality in the history of modern glasswork. For the first time ever, an adult artist with no initial training in the craft became enamoured of this medium and devoted more than twenty years of his career to creating works which would always be based on the ancient craft technique of glass-blowing. The exhibition at Le Stanze del Vetro will be the first international tribute to his work and will make it possible to rediscover this major but still unrecognised artist and acquire a better understanding of his original position as an artist-craftsman who opened up many new possibilities in modern and contemporary glasswork. The curatorship is entrusted to Jean-Luc Olivié, curator of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and Cristina Beltrami, art historian. From among the some 2500 glass pieces identified, in over 70 public collections and certain rare private ones, a selection of more than 250 works coming from French, European and American public collections will illustrate the development and richness of the corpus of Marinot’s glasswork. A set of plans, designs and sketches will make it possible to elucidate the reflections and the dynamic between the instant of molten creation, the physical struggles with the medium and the pauses for research which link the works one to the other. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue published in English and Italian by Skira.