Tribute to Stanislav Libenský

Obituary:

Professor Sylva Petrova on the eminent Czech artist who died in February 2002.

When the major retrospective exhibition by Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová was being opened on January 26, 2002 at the Trade-fair Palace in Prague, Stanislav Libenský addressed a large audience, both inside and outside the hall, from a wheel chair. Despite this incapacity, his spirit was still radiant, and so all of us hoped that he would overcome the recent crisis in his long struggle with serious illness, just as he had several times before. However, a month later we received the sad news that Stanislav Libenský died on February 24, 2002 in Zelezný Brod.

Professor Libenský along with his wife and collaborator Jaroslava Brychtová belonged to the legendary figures of international glass sometimes referred to as the 'founders'. Countless analyses have been published in articles, catalogues and books, reviews and interviews, in particular over the last 12 years. Perhaps the most important is the book prepared by the Corning Museum, USA in collaboration with Czech curators to accompany the comprehensive retrospective exhibition in 1994, Stanislav Libenský, Jaroslava Brychtová. A 40-Year Collaboration in Glass (New York - Munchen, Prestel). To put it briefly, both artists made a contribution above all by creating, as early as the 1950s, truly original concepts in glass sculpture that could not be produced in any other material. These utilised the unique qualities of glass, such as transparency. At the same time Libenský and Brychtová also developed their own originally painterly ideas in glass. By melting the glass in open moulds, and innovating the technique pâte de verre, they developed forms of glass in contrast to those produced from traditional free blown techniques. Libenský and Brychtová felt that these methods were limiting due to the small scale that was possible and the forms that always resulted from this treatment, such as a bubble, drop, or ball. Therefore they found their own methods to work both technologically and artistically with large-scale glass. In a unique way, they integrated glass sculpture into the architectural space not as a decorative and ornamental element, but as an organic component of the structure. Their numerous works in architecture both in the Czech lands and abroad testify to that.

Today, when I am able to see Czech culture from a distance, I see as fundamental two other aspects of Libenský's career. First, the importance and the scope of his pedagogical activity, and second, the fact that together with Jaroslava Brychtová he tremendously popularised not only their own work, but also the work of Professor Libenský's students abroad. By this they have quite significantly facilitated (together with others) the substantial reputation of Czech glass in the world. The contribution of the Czechs has finally been recognised at the turn of the millennium, when experts and collectors in other countries have become more aware of Czech glass practice due to the more open political climate.

As a teacher and man, Professor Libenský was gifted with an empathy towards others which contributed to the success of his pedagogical mission. With the substantial support of his long-term assistant (later Assistant Professor, and now Professor) Karel Vanura, his students were encouraged to pursue the individual expression of their talent according to their inclinations rather than to slavishly imitate the master. The overall system of tuition in Prague in Libenský's concept formed a superstructure in the sum of knowledge and skills from secondary glassmaking schools, the standard of which was quite familiar to Professor Libenský from his previous activity at schools in Nový Bor and Zelezný Brod. His concept of tuition also reflected and updated the best principles of Kaplický's school, where Libensky studied shortly after the war, and Vanura, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Libenský's main aim was to develop a new relationship to glass by integrating light, space and colour. The tuition of glass at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague was effective, producing generations of glassmakers, and it has been, in the certain semantic and interpretation shift of Professor Vladimír Kopecký's school, absolutely unique in the world.

For a success in life it is necessary to have talent, tremendous will, and industriousness as well as good luck. It is necessary to see objectively that Professor Libenský's career was facilitated not only by his exceptional visual talent, but also his artistic collaboration with Jaroslava Brychtová. His wife was in all aspects a partner in the creative process, initiator of certain stages and of the manufacturing process, and on top of that her thoughtfulness, devotion and care protected Stanislav Libenský from the trials brought about by ordinary life. Another fortuitous aspect was his charismatic personality that allowed him to easily communicate with anyone and in any environment, both verbally and non-verbally. Thanks to all this Stanislav Libenský managed to achieve far more than he could have dreamt about as a boy from a humble Czech background; together with Jaroslava Brychtová he was to become one of the key figures of 20th-century art.

Professor Sylva Petrová is the former curator of 20th century Glass and Deputy Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. She is currently Research Professor in Glass at the University of Sunderland, UK, where she is also Director of the Institute for International Research in Glass (IIRG). Petrova has written five books. Her most recent 'Czech Glass' 2001, was awarded the Czech national award for 'Book of the year'.