Uploaded February 2014 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Gianni Toso, who demonstrated at the 2011 International Flameworking Conference, is a maestro who has redefined the tradition of Venetian lampworking. He comes from a family with a 700-year uninterrupted tradition of Murano glassblowing.
Gianni began working in glass factories at age 10, and by the time he was 25, he had opened his own studio in Venice, Italy. It's there that Gianni started to push its limits. In 1968, he made a chess set, "Jews vs. Catholics," that depicted the leaders of two opposing philosophies. This art work is now part of the permanent exhibition of the Corning Museum of Glass.
During a 1976 glassblowing tour of American university art departments, Gianni fell in love with the freedom of American culture and later moved to the United States. He now lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where he produces works full of humor and humanity and continues to explore his medium as an art form.
Gianni Toso, who demonstrated at the 2011 International Flameworking Conference, is a maestro who has redefined the tradition of Venetian lampworking. He comes from a family with a 700-year uninterrupted tradition of Murano glassblowing.
Gianni began working in glass factories at age 10, and by the time he was 25, he had opened his own studio in Venice, Italy. It's there that Gianni started to push its limits. In 1968, he made a chess set, "Jews vs. Catholics," that depicted the leaders of two opposing philosophies. This art work is now part of the permanent exhibition of the Corning Museum of Glass.
During a 1976 glassblowing tour of American university art departments, Gianni fell in love with the freedom of American culture and later moved to the United States. He now lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where he produces works full of humor and humanity and continues to explore his medium as an art form.
