Walter Furlan

Walter Furlan was born in 1931 in Chioggia, a small town at the southern tip of the Venetian lagoon. He went to work at an early age in the VAMSA glassworks, where he was apprenticed to Romano Tosi, a master-craftsman, better-known as ” Mamaracio”.
At the end of World War II, Furlan joined the Gino Cenedese glassworks where he assisted Alfredo Barbini and the old artisans formerly from VAMSA, including “Mamaracio” and Gino Forte known as ” Peta “.
At the Gino Cenedese glassworks, Furlan learned to work with solid glass, sculpted ” a massello”, a technique that would later become his favorite method. Having become a Maestro at a very young age, Furlan soon came into contact with many artists, including Fulvio Bianconi. In the early 70’s, Furlan went to work for Seguso Vetri d’Arte, under the guidance of Maestro Angelo Seguso and designer Mario Pinsoni. There he learned to make sommerso glass and to work with the stylized forms typical of the designs of artist Flavio Poli, who was then collaborating with Seguso Vetri d’Arte. He soon became the Master that Poli relied on to interpret most of his work.

In 1977 he participated in the “First Course for Artists” organised by the International Glass School, and on this occasion, created works by artists Horst Sobota, Renzo Margonari and Ghibbé, giving proof of his great capacity for interpreting artistic design. Maestro Furlan also participated in the Premio Murano, an event organized by the Abate Zanetti Association, for which he made the pieces designed by Verdiano Maezi, Andrea Pagnacco, Marconi and Laura Santoro. More recently he has carried out works for Lindstrom, Alinari, Barattini, Wagner and Jef Van Reniaout.

Today his finest expressions are inspired by Picasso’s fascinating artistic career, in works that express the range of the experience he acquired working with the old glassmasters. Today, in his furnace, the Maestro is constantly seeking to express the full extent of his creativity in glass, with new concepts for solid glass sculptures, some of which are impressively large.