Born in Venice in 1955, Laura de Santillana went on to study classics and architecture. In 1975 she moved to New York, working with the Vignelli associates studio while attending the school of visual arts and then working for a publishing company designing art books.
From 1975 on, she designed objects and lamps for the family business, Venini, and worked on new products alongside her father Ludovico.
In 1986, Laura, with her brother and father, founded EOS. She designed objects and lamps until her father's death in 1989, where she became art director of EOS until 1993, running the new foundry on Murano overseeing the collections.
In 1989 Laura made her first visit to India, which became a yearly pilgrimage. In 1993 her first solo exhibit was in Seattle. Following a commission to design a kaiseki range in glass, she went to Japan for the first of many times. There she worked with Japanese lacquer master Suzuki Mutsumi, creating tea ceremony ware. Follow exhibits in Kyoto and Tokyo.
In 1999 she exhibited in New York and Paris, showing her signature flat forms for the first time, with a solo show at the Museo Correr, Venice in 2001. From 2004 she started working in Pietrasanta in alabaster and marble. In 2009, Laura's first residency at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, producing large-scale works exhibited at the 53rd Venice art biennale. In New York, three visions in glass continued to American and European museums for over two years.
Furthermore, Her residency in Tacoma with her brother Alessandro resulted in the Scapes exhibition in 2012. The following year she worked again in Seattle producing the extensive flat works, subsequently exhibited in Paris. Begins a new project in the Czech republic, experimenting with new fusing techniques.
Major recent museum shows are:
Exhibition i Santillana, at le Stanze del Vetro, Fondazione g, Cini in Venice, and at the MAK in vienna in 2014; the Yorkshire sculpture park in the chapel, with a new installation in 2015, and Wunderglas at schloss Ambras in Innsbruck the following year.
Museums/public collections
Venezia, Museo Vetrario di Murano
Corning, Corning Museum of Glass
London, Victoria & Albert Museum
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Arts
St Louis, Saint Louis Art Museum
New York, Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Seattle, Seattle Art Museum
Denver, Denver Art Museum
Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts
Pittsburg, Carnegie Museum of Art
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Lausanne, Mu.DAC
New York, MAD
Sao Paolo Museu de Arte
Paris, Musée des Arts Decoratifs
San Diego, Mingei International Museum
Dusseldorf, Kunst Museum im Ehrenhof
Coburg, Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Coesfeld-Lette, Ernsting Stiftung, Alterhof Herding museum
Hamburg, Museum Fur Kunst und Gewerbe
München, Neue Sammlung
IMA Indianapolis Museum of Art
Boston, MFA
Miami, Lowe Art Museum
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Through Her Eyes
In Memory of Laura de Santillana 21 Oct - 18 Nov 2020An exhibition at Ippodo Gallery New York featuring artist Laura de Santillana's glass sculptures.Read more -
Moon : Tsuki wo koso …
Kondaya Genbey x Laura de Santillana 6 - 8 Oct 2018Moon : Tsuki wo koso… Genbey Yamaguchi, the tenth generation owner of the famous Kyoto obi specialist, Kondaya, is a rare breed of man. Kondaya has remained a leader in...Read more
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About Glass
A Short Introduction to Glassblowing Technique October 20, 2020Glasswork has been around for centuries and glassblowing as a technique was created in the middle of the 1st century BC. Glassblowing offered new lengths...Read more -
A Letter to Laura
October 13, 2020To Laura, whom I love and respect. Dear Laura, your glass works sum up your character— s oft, graceful, intellectual yet tantalizing . The way...Read more