Stanislav Libensky, 80; Czech Artist Sculpted With Glass, Taught

Stanislav Libensky, 80, an internationally known artist who cut and cast Czech glass into sculptures, died Feb. 24 in Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic, about 60 miles north of Prague.

Educated at the Prague College of Applied Arts, Libensky later taught there and at small vocational schools, inspiring artists in Europe, Japan and the U.S.

“Glass,” he once said, “allows us to form shapes as we penetrate its mass, determine its center and touch its secrets.”

Libensky also adapted his artistic talent to architecture, creating a landmark glass building near Prague’s National Theater.

His work was limited by the Communist regime after the 1968 Russian invasion of what was then Czechoslovakia.

In the United States, his works are in collections of such museums as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Corning (N.Y.) Museum of Glass.

A retrospective of his sculptures now on exhibit at the National Gallery in Prague will open July 4 at the new Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Wash.