As might be expected, the glass artists found creative inspiration outside their own country. In addition to decorative motifs drawn from artists such as Miro and Picasso, several works of the 50s are molded with openwork areas, reflecting the pervasive influence of sculptor Henry Moore. The Symposium On May 30 and 31, a two-day symposium was organized by The Corning Museum in connection with the exhibition, bringing a number of leading experts on Italian glass to discuss the history and the challenges of the genre, which has been increasingly the focus of attention and collecting interest in the past decade. Discussions during the symposium brought up the difficulties of authenticating and dating objects that now plague even the experts. Also, such details as age and composition of glass are discernible, if at all, only through costly and infrequently used photo luminescence technology.
Many scholarly publications contain inaccuracies.
Opening a glass factory involves relatively little investment in space and facilities the only requirements are raw materials, a furnace and a bench, and the artisans to work with them. There are some 250 registered factories in Murano, most of which are very small operations, and artisans in these studios frequently copy techniques using filigree canes and color granulation. Although Venice, several centuries back, passed the first copyright laws, the Murano community regards design as common property. Nowadays, virtually all production glass makes use of molds, which of course, facilitate quantity production of goods, authentic or forged. When Murano glass became collectible, some factories responded by reviving classics, others by copying them, and by the mid-80s, the market was flooded with examples of what was certainly Italian glass, but less certainly what it professed to be in terms of date, designer and producing factory.