Glass is beautiful, noble, and a rascal, claimed Jaroslava Brychtová

Prague - Sculptor and glassmaker Jaroslava Brychtová, along with her husband Stanislav Libenský, created a team of top and renowned glass artists for nearly half a century. Both significantly contributed to the development of modern artistic glass, and their works, which are represented in a number of galleries and collections, are among the most expensive and sought after in the global market. After Libenský's death in 2002, Brychtová, who was almost eighty at the time, continued working independently. Today, her family announced her passing; she was 95 years old.

Libenský and Brychtová created a joint brand for many years; their partnership functioned both in the studio and at the family hearth. They both focused on the artistic appreciation of molten glass technology. Thanks to them, decorative glass became a defining element of many buildings, and as such, part of architecture. Their cast glass sculptures were the first of their kind in the world and attracted interest. Brychtová applied her sculptural education, while Libenský brought in his painting experience.

"With Stanislav, everything was so simple! He would glance, and by seeing it (the work), it was already approved, as if blessed. He didn't even have to say anything; we understood each other without words. I think I will start designing again, but I didn't want to. I was used to natural feedback. With him, everything was so clear... The way he taught over the years, he could adjust with absolute certainty," Brychtová recalled in 2005, three years after her partner's death, in an interview with Reflex about working with Libenský.

From their creative workshop came the so-called negative cavity, where colorful and light effects can be seen within uncolored glass. The artists created many glass sculptures together, using painted, etched, and cut glass, and also made stained glass windows. Brychtová's work with Libenský was exhibited and awarded at Expo shows in Brussels (1958), Montreal (1967), and Osaka (1970) - where their 22 meters large sculpture titled The River of Life drew significant attention.

In the melted relief, the bodies of two girls (one of them was Brychtová's daughter Alena) being swept away by the current were imprinted. At the point where the river seemed to freeze, there were the footprints of military boots - a kind of metaphor for occupation from the artists' perspective. "The commissioners of our exhibition came to me saying that until I remove the footprints, they would not open the pavilion... I was startled by this. I had them ground off," recalled Libenský in 1997 for Reflex. He also added: "I should have resisted anyway."

Among the other works of the couple are the stained glass windows in the chapel of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, the glass cloak of the New Stage of the National Theatre in Prague (in collaboration with architect Karel Prager), the entrance hall of the International Hotel in Brno, the interior decoration of the Ještěd transmitter, or the windows of chapels in Horšovský Týn and at Špilberk Castle in Brno. Brychtová and Libenský are the authors of many sculptures, one of which, titled City Silhouettes III (1989), was sold last year for 1.32 million crowns.

Brychtová was born on July 18, 1924, in Železný Brod. Her father was the sculptor Jaroslav Brychta, a famous creator of the renowned Železný Brod figures made from drawn and blown glass. Jaroslava studied at the College of Applied Arts in Karel Štipla's studio and at the Academy of Fine Arts under Jan Lauda (from 1947 to 1950). She worked as a graphic designer at the Železnobrodské sklo company (1950 to 1984), and then continued in her own studio.

With Libenský, whom she first worked with in 1954 (they married nine years later), they organized more than 60 solo exhibitions. Until the early 1990s, they exhibited more abroad than at home. They also received numerous awards: Grand Prix at Expo 58 in Brussels, a Gold Medal at the Art Biennale 1965 in São Paulo, and the Bavarian State Prize (1967). Their works, alongside those of René Roubíček, František Vízner, Václav Cigler, or Pavel Hlave, are among the most acclaimed in the field.

"Glass itself is beautiful and noble, but at the same time it is unpredictable, a terrible little devil," said Jaroslava Brychtová about her work, which earned her the Medal of Merit in 2005. Last year, on her 95th birthday, the glassmaker became the first recipient of the Vojtěch Knight Lanna Award, which began to be awarded by the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague.