Concerto di Primavera 2000

Imagine Lino Tagliapietra blowing these glass forms, this Concerto di Primavera, probably in Murano, Italy, sometime in the last 30 years. Think of the breath required, the concentration, the heat! The lines of color and form are so precise, so flowing. I’m struck by the overall verticality and the elegance of these shapes. Like a chorus line, each one seems to be reaching skyward with a slightly different curve, a unique expression of a singular gesture. The colours, soft blues and purples, with flashes of amber and white remind me of water or maybe the wings of insects. Tagliapietra was clearly engaged in a dialogue with the material itself, pushing the boundaries of what is possible with glass. Each piece feels like a response to the one before, a variation on a theme, a new way of seeing and thinking. Like painting, glassblowing requires a deep understanding of process and an ability to improvise, react and adapt to the unpredictable nature of the material. All artists are constantly exchanging ideas, and each one of these glass pieces captures an ephemeral moment of transformation.