Mid-Century Modern Glass Sculpture of a Man Holding a Flag, by Jan Černý

Details

Description

The faded handwritten sticky note on the sculpture’s base (photo #6) reads "jan cerny / (autor = / socrec).” This … Read more The faded handwritten sticky note on the sculpture’s base (photo #6) reads "jan cerny / (autor = / socrec).” This suggests this is a mid-20th-century Czech studio art glass sculpture created by the prominent modernist artist Professor Jan Černý (1907–1978). The word "autor" is Czech for author/creator.
The piece features an abstract, highly stylized depiction of a man holding up a flag with a single star in the upper corner, all within a jagged, ice-like block of transparent glass with a mixture of matte frost and high-gloss textures. Černý was a pioneer in mold-melted and cast-glass technology. The rough, organic, brutalist outer shape mimics natural ice formations or raw stone, contrasted against the smooth, polished curves of the figure inside.
Jan Černý graduated from the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague and spent over 20 years teaching at the specialized Glassmaking School in Železný Brod. During the 1960s and 1970s, he gained international recognition for his unique sculptural reliefs, figurative art, and animal figures. Many of his three-dimensional sculptures from this era were produced in highly limited numbers or as one-of-a-kind gallery pieces.
Signature/Maker’s mark: Nonexistent, or possibly obscured by the wood block. See less