Glass Within Glass: The Magic Of The Trabucco Studio

Victor Trabucco is considered one of the finest glass artists in the world. A resident of Clarence, New York, Trabucco’s astonishing art glass paperweights are recognized internationally for their beauty, innovation and technical expertise.

The Burchfield Penney Art Center will be presenting a spectacular exhibition of Trabucco’s breathtaking paperweight artistry from April 14 to October 29 in the museum’s Sylvia Rosen Gallery.

The groundbreaking show, “Glass Within Glass: The Magic Of The Trabucco Studio – The Paperweight Artistry Of Victor, Jon, and David Trabucco" will include more than 40 works by Trabucco himself, as well as paperweights by his twin sons David and Jon.

The exhibition will provide visitors the opportunity to enjoy, understand and appreciate the remarkable ways Trabucco and his sons manipulate glass to achieve their extraordinary results.

Additionally, in order to provide context about art glass paperweights, a historical timeline will be part of the exhibition.

Glass paperweights are an art form that go back to the 19th-century. Pietro Bigaglia of the glassmaking island of Murano in Venice, Italy is generally accepted to be the first person to exhibit what the art world calls glass paperweights, an act that culminated in the creation in France of what are considered to be the art form’s greatest works, which were made between 1845 and 1860.

The historical timeline will show visitors how paperweights progressed from the 1800s to the present-day through the works of the Trabucco Studio.

The glass paperweights in this timeline have been carefully selected from the Margaret Woodbury Strong paperweight collection, a gathering of glass that has not been seen publicly in more than three decades.

The Trabucco Studio exhibition is guest curated by Michael Calleri, a Buffalo movie critic and paperweight enthusiast. Calleri has long studied the work of the Trabuccos and the centuries-old history of paperweight traditions. He will provide an introduction for the exhibition’s accompanying brochure.

As Guest Curator, Calleri has lead the selection of the Trabucco Studio paperweights in the show, as well as personally selecting more than 50 Strong collection paperweights for the historical timeline.

In 2009, Calleri founded the most popular group on Facebook dedicated to paperweights. The Glass Paperweight Group now has more than 2,400 members from across the globe.

Victor Trabucco is also a skilled magician and is internationally recognized for card tricks he has created. David Trabucco also owns a fitness center in suburban Buffalo. Jon Trabucco is also an accomplished fine art woodworker.

A range of public programs will further enhance audience engagement, including artist-led tours of the exhibition, studio visits, artist-led glass-working workshops, tours for school groups, and more.

As the leading museum for works by artists who have contributed to the cultural achievements of Western New York, the Burchfield Penney is pleased to be presenting this exhibition, which strongly aligns with the museum’s mission.

The Sylvia Rosen Gallery is the Burchfield Penney’s dedicated gallery for fine art in craft media.

The Strong paperweight collection is on loan from the Strong National Museum Of Play in Rochester, New York.

Glass art from the Trabucco Studio has been selected for the permanent collections of some of the North America’s leading museums, including The Corning Museum Of Glass in Corning, New York; The Art Institute Of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois; The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum Of Glass in Neenah, Wisonsin; The Museum Of American Glass at the WheatonArts And Cultural Center in Millville, New Jersey; and The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.