Foreword Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu Little did Giorgio and I realize what we were getting ourselves into when we impulsively acquired our first piece of Murano glass. We went to Sotheby's in New York to pick up a contemporary art catalogue and decided to take a look at the current exhibition of decorative arts. From across the room, a half-cobalt blue, half-emerald green hourglass caught my attention. We loved it and left a bid. We didn't think about the piece again until the auction house phoned to inform us that our bid had been successful. The minute I placed the piece next to our Flowers painting by Andy Warhol, it was magic. I don't know whether it was the light or the juxtaposition of 1950s Italian glass and 1960s American Pop Art, but the combination worked. Our passion for Murano glass had begun. In a short time we acquired many wonderful pieces from local fairs, galleries, and auctions. We wanted to study, to educate ourselves. It was difficult then because there was a dearth of literature available on Murano glass. Years later, on one of our trips to Italy, Giorgio noticed an article in the Alitalia In Flight magazine concerning a glass exhibition titled The Art of the Barovier at the Querini Stampalia in Venice. Though it was not on our itinerary, we went to Venice for a day to see what turned out to be a magnificent
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