Chihuly: Venice 2026
Glass blooms along the Grand Canal as Dale Chihuly returns to the city that first ignited his translucent visions.
1 / 3
Image credit
Dale Chihuly, Blue and Green Tower, 2025, 26½ x 10 x 10', Palazzo Balbi Valier, Venice, installed 2026
Meet the artist
The Movement
Contemporary SculptureArtLovers Tip
The Gold Tower in the Palazzo Franchetti garden is most evocative during the blue hour just after sunset, when the inner glow of the glass begins to compete with the deepening sky.
Exhibition Highlights - What you'll see
Thirty years after his historic glass intervention, Dale Chihuly returns to the Venetian lagoons that defined his career. This anniversary presentation centers on three monumental sculptures rising along the water, bridging the artist's American experimentation with the ancient glass-making traditions of Murano. It is a quiet dialogue between the fragility of silica and the enduring stones of a city built on water.
You're watching the thirty-foot Gold Tower catching the shifting light of the Grand Canal from the gardens of Palazzo Franchetti. The scale is immense, yet the intricate, twisted forms feel as organic as seaweed or rising smoke. Nearby, at Palazzo Loredan, the atmosphere shifts to the scholarly and intimate, where sketches and archival films reveal the physical labor and creative risk behind these frozen moments of light.
Worth the trip
- A full-circle moment: Witness the artist's emotional return to the city where he first learned the collaborative secrets of Italian glassblowing.
- Public grandeur: View three massive new works specifically designed to interact with the unique light and scale of the Grand Canal's architecture.
- Behind the scenes: Gain rare access to Chihuly’s personal archives and process sketches, grounding the spectacular sculptures in historical narrative.
How to experience it
Begin your journey on the Accademia Bridge, where you can see the sculptures framed by the canal's historic facades. After walking through the archival center at Palazzo Loredan, find a quiet spot in Campo Santo Stefano. Sit with a coffee and watch how the Venetian light—the same light that inspired Chihuly decades ago—slowly changes the color of the water.
Because you are an artlover,
Join our community of art enthusiasts and discover exhibitions, artists, and masterpieces tailored to your tastes. Get personalized recommendations and never miss a must-see show again.
Join us