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Lino Tagliapietra and Checco Ongaro

Lino Tagliapietra (b. 1934 in Murano, Italy) is an Italian glass artist.

Lino was born on the island of Murano in 1934. Murano, an island who's history of glass dates back to 1291, provided Lino with the perfect educational environment to become one of the greatest glass artists to have ever lived. At the age of 12 Lino was apprenticed by the glass maestro Archimede Seguso. Nine years later, at the age of 21, Lino earned the rank of maestro. For the next 25 years Lino worked in association with several of Murano's top glass factories. Lino's influence to the American art glass studio movement is primarily attributed to his friend Dale Chihuly. In 1968 Chihuly visited Murano and learned from Lino, as well as other glass maestro's including Pino Signoretto.

In 1979 Lino came to the United States to teach at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington. This event marked the beginning of knowledge sharing amongst the American Glass Artists and the Italian maestros, who in the past had guarded their techniques as valuable trade secrets. Lino's generosity in sharing his knowledge, which builds upon centuries of Italian technique, has given inspiration to many of America's best glass artists.

The eighties marked Lino's entry into the studio artist world after over a decade of traveling, teaching and working with studio artists across the world. Lino's solo production is representative of the finest glass art the world has ever seen. His technical abilities to manipulate glass are surpassed by no one. Even Dale Chihuly, who is one of the most well known glass artists in the world has said Lino is "perhaps the world's greatest living glassblower", and few would disagree.

• 1998
  • The Libensky Award, Chateau Ste Michelle Vineyard and Winery and Pilchuck Glass School

• 1997
  • Urkunde Goldmedaille, Germany
  • The Glass Art Society Lifetime Achievement Award

• 1996
  • Urban Glass Award for Preservation of Glassworking Techniques
  • The 11th Rakow Commission, The Corning Museum of Glass

• Lino Tagliapietra's Home Page