The name Lino Tagliapietra epitomises everything that studio glass movement stands for.
The Italian maestro qualified as a maestro vetraio (master glassmaker) in his early 20s and enjoyed 30 years working alongside the leading glass manufacturers in Murano before pursing his path as a studio artist from the late 1970s.
Tagliapietra has played a formative role in the international exchange of glassblowing techniques, most notably in the United States. Dale Chihuly (b.1941) has referred to him as “the greatest glassblower in the world”.
From their early meetings in the late 1960s they disseminated ideas, shared techniques and worked together on a number of projects. Today both artists are represented in leading museums - Chihuly’s rotunda chandelier providing the wow factor at the foyer of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
