Red Head
Artist
Stanislav Libenský
(Czech, 1921 - 2002)
Artist
Jaroslava Brychtová
(Czech, 1924 - 2020)
CultureCzech
Date1990
MediumCast, ground, and polished glass
DimensionsOverall: 31 1/2 x 7 x 24 1/2 in. (80 x 17.8 x 62.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds from Renée and Arthur Diamonstein and Art Purchase Fund
Object number95.38
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a glass sculpture.Label TextStanislav Libenský Czech, 1921–2002 Jaroslava Brychtová Czech, 1924-2020 Red Head, 1990 Cast, ground, and polished glass Museum purchase with funds from Renée and Arthur Diamonstein and Art Purchase Fund 95.38 Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová are famous for their monumental abstract cast-glass sculptures, often in vivid colors, that use the thickness of the glass to create patterns of light and shade. Libenský began this work by making a heavily-shaded design drawing. Brychtová then translated the drawing into a full-scale clay model. From this model the mold for casting the glass was made. After the casting was completed, the glass was selectively ground and polished to enhance the form. A husband-and-wife team, Libenský and Brychtová are the acknowledged grand masters of Czech cast-glass sculpture. Each had a distinguished career in glass before they married, and they have now worked together for more than four decades, exercising a profound influence on Czech glass artists. Red Head's inherent monumentality conveys something of the grand scale in which these artists often work: The sculpture they made for the Czech display at Expo 67 in Montreal was 13 feet high. Exhibition History"Treasures for the Community: The Chrysler Collects, 1989-1996," October 25, 1996 - February 16, 1997. Published ReferencesJeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 148, fig. 187. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
