Rene Roubicek Clear Glass Coral Sculpture c1971

Description

Heading :  Rene Roubicek Coral Sculpture
Date : c1971
Origin : Czechoslovakia
Decoration : Large cleqar glass sculpture of coral
Size :  32cm height. 25.5cm max width
Condition :  Excellent
Restoration : None
Weight : 4238 grams

Mark Hill Comments:

These extravagant, complex sculptures relate to a series of sculptures designed by Roubicek for display at the 1958 Brussels Expo. the 1966 Sao Paolo Biennal. and the 1967 Montreal Expo.

Some were large. architecutral and sometimes part of water features. and others were smaller. displayed in cabinets and more suited to a domestic environment. All explored the sculptural possibilities of the flowing liquid of molten glass. About them. Roubicek said. “Always during the birth of glass sculptures. I was careful to give priority to glass over my own fame. so that glass did on its own what it was able to do and I could be a happy witness of how it made miracles.”

Each piece wqas made by hand and is unique. The smaller sizes were produced in small quantities from the mid 1960s-70s. An article in Czechoslovak Glass Review in 1971 shows that they were made by talented and legendary glassmaker Josef Rozinek. best known for co-designing the range of Fish sculptures sold by Exbor. Other examples of Coral are periodically shown in Novy Bor glass adverts in the same publication. This is an excellent. balanced example.

René Roubicek (1922-2018) was one of the foremost leaders of the revolution in glass design and glassmaking in postwar Czechoslovakia. Together with his wife. he revelled in the freedom of the material. He won a Grand Prix at the 1958 Brussels Expo and taught and inspired a great many glass designers who followed him.