Bugno Art Gallery
San Marco
Fodor's choice
This retailer of modern and contemporary art, along with photography, puts together windows representative of the whole gallery.
6 Best Shopping in Venice, Italy
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It’s no secret that Venice offers some excellent shopping opportunities, but the best of them are often not the most conspicuous. Look beyond the ubiquitous street vendors and the hundreds of virtually indistinguishable purse, glass, and lace shops that line the calli, and you’ll discover a bounty of unique and delightful treasures—some might be kitschy, but much will show off the high level of craftsmanship for which Venice has long been known.
Alluring shops abound. You'll find countless vendors of trademark Venetian wares such as Murano glass and Burano lace; the authenticity of some goods can be suspect, but they're often pleasing to the eye regardless of their heritage. For more sophisticated tastes (and deeper pockets), there are jewelers, antiques dealers, and high-fashion boutiques on a par with those in Italy's larger cities but often maintaining a uniquely Venetian flair. Don’t ignore the contemporary, either: Venice's artisan heritage lives on in the hand and eye of the today’s designers—no matter where they hail from.
While the labyrinthine city center can seem filled with imposing high-fashion emporiums and fancy glass shops, individual craftspeople often working off the main thoroughfares produce much of what is worth taking home from Venice. In their workshops artful stationery is printed with antique plates; individual pairs of shoes are adroitly constructed; jewelry is handcrafted; fine fabrics are skillfully woven; bronze is poured to make gondola décor, and iron is worked into fanali lanterns; paper is glued, pressed, and shaped into masks; and oars and forcola oarlocks are hewn and sculpted in the workshops of remér wood craftsmen.
Caterina Tognon Arte Contemporanea
San Marco
Fodor's choice
Contemporary visual artists who employ glass as their medium are featured by Caterina in her marvelous art gallery.
Contini Art Gallery
San Marco
Contini shows only 20th-century artists and is Italy's only dealer for Botero, Zoran Music, and the marble and bronze sculptures by Mitoraj.
Recommended Fodor's Video
Holly Snapp Gallery
San Marco
The focus is on the works by the eclectic English-born artist Geoffrey Humphries, including paintings, drawings, and etchings ranging from landscapes to portraits; he also produces watercolors of Venetian vistas.
Livio De Marchi Galleria
San Marco
Signor De Marchi's swift hands turn wood into outstanding full-scale sculptures that perfectly reproduce everyday objects such as hats, laundry hung out to dry, telephones, jackets, books, fruit, lace—even underwear.
Ravagnan Gallery
San Marco
The exclusive dealer since 1967 of some of the most famous living artists on the Italian scene shows work by Venetian surrealist Ludovico De Luigi, metaphysical painter Andrea Vizzini, and glass sculptor Primo Formenti.
