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Czech glass kiln-cast glass, Czech art glass movement

Czech kiln-cast glass can be dated to the 1950’s which was influenced by The Velvet Revolution for the glass industries in Czech. Czech kiln-cast glass was established by the world famous Czech glass founder-member - Stanislav Lipinski and Jaroslav Brychtová. These two artists used removable molds, such as wax (allowing candles to evaporate or burn in the process of making glass), wood or metal to reach the purpose of improvement Czech glass. This method realizes the variety and color diversity of glass. At the Expo 1958 world’s fair in Brussels, 50 years ago. One such exhibit was a glass wall comprised of colored glass blocs featuring animal motifs that was the first time for Czech glass kiln-cast glass facing the world. In the same period, the colorful Bohemian glass also was developed. Unlike Bohemia glass, Czech kiln-cast glass pays more attention to the design. In the modern world, most of Czech kiln-cast glass are used for home decorate glass or furnishings.

History background

The Historical period of Czech kiln-cast glass production was relatively turbulent, the Velvet Revolution affected the glass industries in Czech. The Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 and established a tough regime that hindered the development of all fields in the next two decades and large-scale cleaning of the Czech. In this regard, there is no anti-communist force in Czech society, many art was gradually becoming politicized. At this time, in the field of Grass art, there was a glass artist headed by Stanislav Lipinski, who thought that Art must be purely aesthetic not a political service. Then, 50 years ago, Czech kiln-cast glass was first facing the world at the Expo 1958 world’s fair in Brussels.

Kiln-cast method

Kiln-casting is the process of creating a glass object in a kiln by heating glass above or inside a refractory mold until it flows to fill the void. There are 5 steps to produce. Firstly is to choose a fireproof mold and use plastic type - such as sand and wax to shape the artwork. Secondly, placing the wax model on a clay base and then secures a tar paper coddle and putting the mixture of silica, plaster and fiberglass is mixed with water and poured into the coddle. The third step needs an industrial pressure pot which is used to pressurized steam created by heating the pot over a propane stove causes the wax to melt out of the mold and into the water bath. The next step for creating Czech kiln-cast glass is that fills the empty mold with leaded glass fit (crushed glass) and places it at 1500°F degrees and cooled slowly. Generally, the last step always take 3-4 days that is up to the scale of the artwork. Finally, use various grinding and cutting techniques to refine the vessel's form and decoration.

Comparing with other method

The other 2 common methods to produce is sand method (which consists of silica, soda ash and lime) and blowing glass method

The sand method came from ancient Egypt which was accidentally made in the process of making other metal products. Silica, soda ash and lime are mixed in the old glass, and is burned to a high temperature, and then using sand to make the temperature lower, and the glass product is produced. Comparing to Czech Kiln-cast glass，the disadvantage of this method is that if the temperature of the manufacturing process is not high enough, it will produce a glass dissolved in water. The advantage of this method is that the process is easy to operate, and adding limestone can prevent this from happening - a glass dissolved in water. What's more, ‘variable viscosity’ makes glass special and understanding that property is how glass is made into items of beauty or utility.

Blowing glass method was used from 1904. This method making by a furnace to melt the glass and using a tubular crucible as a guide, the gas is blown by a glass blower until the glass is cooled and formed. Comparing with Czech kiln-cast glass, blowing method of making glass is very cumbersome, the tubular crucible needs to be kept at 1000 degrees, and in order to make the glass uniform, the pipe needs to be scrolled all the time, and the cumbersome manufacturing process is the disadvantage of this manufacturing method. What's more, the tubular crucible must be strong enough to withstand the temperature of the molten glass without deformation. If the table is warped due to heat, the glass will not be uniform and the blowing process will be severely affected. On the contrary, Czech kiln-cast method is easier to color, can be colored during the rotation process, and can be dyed in one or more colors.

Member

Stanislav Libenský (1921 - 2002) and Jaroslava Brychtová (1924) are world-renown Czech artists who created Czech kiln-cast glass sculptures and architectural installations of the 20th century. They wanted to make glass in different ways to express “everything is possible” and the scale of their products is also rare in art history. During a life and artistic partnership, which lasted almost 50 years, they explored the optical and physical aspects of glass to develop a body of work concerning form, light and color. Their sculptural legacy ranges from luminous geometry to spiritual figuration. They have been the recipients of the 1958 Grand Prize at Expo ’58 in Brussels, Belgium.  Their works are included in numerous private and public collections worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH; National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France; Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England. In an interview in 1957, he said, "We don't care about scale. If we want to make something, we must do something big.". The 1959 Moscow show at which Head I debuted also included a work of theirs, Fire and Glass, which measured more than 13 feet in length. They created an exhibition that was run by their students after 2000.

Appreciation of works

Harry Pollitt was selected as 30 Most Amazing Glass Artists Alive Today, simulating the movement of water around the rocks in the stream. The author first tried to capture the feeling of movement with sand, then used a pen on paper, always looking for "capture the perfect interconnected curve and plane experience.

Carol Milne is known worldwide for her unique Knitted Glass work, for which she won the Silver Award at the 2010 International Exhibition of Glass in Kanazawa, Japan. This glass work was incorporated techniques of knitting, lost-wax casting, mold-making, and kiln-casting to create.

Sergio Redegalli is an Australian glass artist who specializes in “optifuse” - preserves the character of broken glass shards as one inherent mass. Redegalli’s most famous piece is “Cascade,” a 12-ton wave-shaped sculpture that was originally commissioned for the 1988 World Expo in Brisbane. Consistent with Cydonia’s specialty, “Cascade” includes 500 precision-cut pieces of 6mm clear glass. Azerbaijani artist Rashad Alakbarov does everything from painting and sculpture. Alakbarov’s “light paintings” are large installations and very powerful in their subtlety. Colored shards of glass are hung from the ceiling in a pattern that then casts light onto a nearby wall. In his images of cityscapes and mythology, Alakbarov emphasizes the character of the Eastern world, global social problems, and current events. Most of his work is held in private collections in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Italy, and Russia.

Karen LaMonte was a Czech kiln-cast glass designer who was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at glass casting studios in Eastern Bohemia and exhibited “Vestige” - a cast-glass, life-size sculpture of a dress. This amazing piece took a year to complete and it has won nine awards worldwide. What's more, her work has appeared at the Knoxville Museum of Art, the Oklahoma Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others.

Differences between Bohemian glass and Czech kiln-cast glass

The historical reason for the similarity of these two glasses is because after this method was discovered, because the main glass factories were in the Bohemian border area where was managed by German. Unfortunately, much of Czech art was suppressed during that country’s political rule as an Iron Curtain Country. For centuries, Czechs have been producing what used to be called Bohemian glass. Czech kiln-cast glass were challenged by World War II, the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948, the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Due to the influence of the Second World War, Czechs are often hired as factory workers to make glass. In modern society, these two concepts are understood to be divided into glass that is produced in the geography of Bohemia. Under the influence of the global design market, the two glasses may unconsciously promote a unique aura. The two glasses are different, related, closely related.

Modern development of Czech kiln-cast glass

Before the appearance of Czech glass, the glass objects were small and thin, unable to control the color and quite complicated. An approach that takes color into account from the beginning can be found in Czech glass, with Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová leading the way. The two artists made large glass objects by means of kiln stoves. At the beginning of the twentieth century, until the middle of the twentieth century, glass began to appear colored, mostly green and brown, with red and blue in small parts. In the Czech Republic, glass coloring has good experimental conditions, and many artists directly control the color with the factory. It has also failed in the process of innovation, such as green. Here the artist made a pyramid to prove. The drawing places the darkest part of the sculpture vertically through the centre, following the thickest part of the sculpture. In the glass form, however, the central “eye” is outlined in bright light, while the darkest part is situated in the base third of the sculpture, with a darker area central in the top third, above the “eye". This is due to reflection and refraction of light and would have been hard to predict; the effects of illumination in the glass are certainly more dramatic than Libensky’s visualisation. Late in the husband and wife team’s career, their colour palette changed from fairly bright hues to subdued greys, grey-blues and grey-purples and the forms became softer and more figurative.

There are some Czech kiln-cast glass studios and shops around the world listed below:

• "Dox by Qubus is located in the Dox Center for Contemporary Art in Holesovice which was created by Jakub Berdych and Maxim Velcovsky in 2002 who decided to establish a multidisciplinary stage for exploring, experimenting and implementing new designs with porcelain and glass, which are traditional Czech materials. Dox by Qubus opened in 2008 and offers their unique blend of modern Czech tradition in porcelain and glass vases, bowls, candleholders, animal banks, etc. At Dox by Qubus you can also find glassware, porcelain, lighting, furniture, interior design objects and more from not only Qubus but also from the best Czech designers such as František Vízner, Martin Žampach, BeldaFactory and many more. Half of the design boutique space features books about international art, architecture and design in English and Czech."

• "Rucki, a family glassworks with the brand logo: a stork with a glass-flask lid in its beak which went back to 1846 – at that time the renowned family was settled in Ostrava. This brand has experienced the uneasiness of communism, which makes the Czech kiln-cast glass works of this brand always admired by the world. It uses the traditional manual practices of Czech kiln-cast glass. The glass works have managed to unite the Czech glassworks tradition and history with contemporary design."

• "Lucie Koldová is a Czech kiln-cast glass brand which designs lighting, furniture pieces, glass sculptures. Designer Koldová currently based in Paris and was constantly inspired by different cultures. Koldová's product are made using old fashioned traditional Czech kiln-cast glass methods together with cutting-edge technology. The design products can be characterized by their material abundance of wood and hand blown glass, in combination with unusual proportions and attractive color choices."