Dino Martens – The Glass maker Who Made Art Glass Picture Perfect

Dino Martens was basically a painter. He was born in Venice in the year 1894. He learned art in Accademia di Belle Arti. He moved to the island of Murano in his youth. He worked with many of the then luminaries in glass blowing as a designer. But it was only for a short time.

His paintings were very famous at that time because it was very innovative and had adapted a new style, Novecento. The paintings were exhibited in the Venice Biennale between 1924 and 1930.

After the Second World War the art forms of every kind exhibited a marked change. They adopted a new brightness which was symbolic of hope and life. Dino Martens who had returned from the war in Africa joined Aureliano Toso in his Decorativi Rag Aureliano Toso in 1939.

His tenure with Aureliano Toso was a famous phase of his life. His designs for Aureliano showed an explosion of colors. The shapes were of the most unconventional asymmetrical type. They were highly ornamental and visually attractive.

His Oriente range of designs was a blending of glass art and modern abstract fine art. The result was a set of exquisitely shaped vases and vessels which were made using the traditional Murano techniques but looked more like paintings. Dino Martens favored Aventurine patches with gold and copper flakes. Filigree cane and zanfirisi techniques were used by the designer to produce hitherto unseen designs. The influence of the painter in him was clearly visible in his glass art. It made his glass creations literally picture perfect.

He created brightly colored murrine designs which held the whole world in awe at that time. He achieved wonderful effects by rolling molten articles in colored and powdered enamels. Even now the pieces from his Oriente collection are considered to be worthy collectables. The unusually bright polychrome effect made Dino Martens glass very unique.

He left Aurelio Toso in 1963. Dino Martens died in 1970.

by Marina Chernyak