Makers & Designers

Dino Martens was born in Venice, Italy in 1894 and studied painting and design at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. Recognised for his talent in painting, he exhibited regularly at the Venice Biennale between 1924 and 1930. During this time, he also worked at Studio Ars Labor Industrie Riunite (S.A.L.I.R.) and then at Salviati & Co, both glass makers on Venice’s famed Murano islands. Martens was called to fight in Italy’s African War in the 1930s. Upon his return, he became the artistic director at Aureliano Toso, a renowned Venetian glass firm, where he stayed for over 20 years. While here, Martens experimented with innovative glass forms and processes; creating daring designs with vibrant colours, metallic pigments, and large murrine.
His work is featured in collections such as the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, USA; the British Museum in London, UK; The Powerhouse Museum (a branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences) in Sydney, Australia; and the Lutz Holtz collection.