Lot 199A
Lucio Bubacco Glass Goblet - Masked Male Nude w/ Wine
Lucio Bubacco Glass Goblet - Masked Male Nude w/ Wine
Current Bid: $600
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Lucio Bubacco (Murano, Italy, b. 1957). Erotic Glass Goblet, 1999. Signed and dated on the base. An erotic glass vessel by Murano master Lucio Bubacco that demonstrates Bubacco's uncanny ability to capture the anatomy and movement of a figure - in this case a nude man rendered in alabaster white colored glass donning a Commedia dell'Arte mask with a beak-like nose, and a wavy coiffure composed of strawberry blonde colored glass, suspended from the stem of the vessel while holding a glass of red wine in his right hand. The figure's erotic pose is further complemented by the vessel's curvaceous form as well as its cobalt blue coloration and intricate gold leaf decorative motifs. A unique glass work that exemplifies Bubacco's embrace of antiquity and sexuality, conjuring ancient fertility rituals such as the Dionysian Mysteries as well as spiritual rituals honoring Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Size: 6.625" H x 3.875" W x 2" D (16.8 cm x 9.8 cm x 5.1 cm)
About the Artist: Lucio Bubacco was born and trained on the Venetian island of Murano, oftentimes in the shadow of his father, the brilliant glassmaker Severino Bubacco. However, Lucio became a star in his own right, best known for reviving the centuries-old tradition of the lampwork technique as well as his iconography which draws from ancient mythology and the Commedia dell 'Arte. Bubacco's unique works suggest a fantasy world that not only references the classical world but also embraces sexuality.
Bubacco's glass works have been exhibited internationally: Murano illumina il mondo, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy (2025); International Biennale of Glass, Sofia, Bulgaria (2025); The Art of Craftsmanship. A Project by Venetian Masters, Biennale di Venezia, Italy (2024); Solo museum exhibition, Palazzo Ferrero, Biella, Italy (2023); International Biennale of Glass, Sofia, Bulgaria (2023); and Lucio Bubacco. Venezia 1600 : il tempo e la mitologia, Spazio Filatelia Venezia - Poste Italiane, Venice, Italy(2021) to name a few. Furthermore, Bubacco's works are held in many permanent museum collections such as Museo del Vetro, Murano, Venezia, Italy; Museum of Arts and Design, New York City; Atelier du Verre, Sars-Poteries, France; Nagoya Museum, Nagoya, Japan; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands; The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, USA; Venetian Glass Art Museum, Otaru, Japan; Museum of Glass, Tacoma, USA; Glasmuseum Frauenau, Frauenau, Germany, and the list goes on.
More about Bubacco from Sandra Ainsley Gallery: "Bubacco, born on Murano in 1957, began playing with glass as a boy, making small animals, beads, and the usual lampworkers tablet. At fifteen he received his artisans license and began marketing flameworked Venetian memorabilia. His fascination with anatomy, equine and human, lured him to push bit by bit beyond the perceived technical limits of his craft.
His large free standing sculpture, worked hot and annealed during the process, is unique in lampworking made from flexible Murano soda glass canes, not less-breakable Pyrex. His pieces challenge our notion of lampwork as a primarily decorative and whimsical, stressing as they do form and plasticity, rather than detailed elaboration and/or narrative content presented as a mini-installation. Bubacco's recent explorations with two dimensional inclusions in blown, solid off-hand and cast glass, burst forth into three dimensional glory, or are highlighted by cold working through and around the images, as he persists in his quest to create a living force in glass. In 1980 he began studying anatomical drawing with the Venetian artist Alessandro Rossi.
His style takes on a new dimension: the movement of the figure becomes the central theme of his work. His masterpieces are crafted in Murano glass, also called 'soft glass' because of its high soda content, which is famous for its characteristic brightness and ideal for the 'lume' process.
His technical experience and knowledge of glass color compatibility allow him to create unique works: figures entirely hand-formed and incorporated in blown-vases or in casting. His works transcend traditional uses and conceptions of the 'lume' technique. They collocate motive tensions and plasticity in a context of narrative surrealism, to create highly original pieces derived from his personal sensibility.
Lucio Bubacco's sensuous works combine the anatomic perfection of Greek sculpture with the Byzantine gothic architecture of his native Venice. Seductive themes, metamorphosis and transformation, forms emerging from the void, echo themes from our mythological past when sexuality was spiritual, not political." (source: Sandra Ainsley Gallery website)
Provenance: private Wichita, Kansas, USA collection
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#196757
- Condition: Overall excellent save a few minute flea bites to the gilding. Artist's signature and date is etched on the underside of the vessel foot.
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