Rago Auctions

A master of minimalism and color, František Vízner is known worldwide as one of the greatest Czech glass artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Vízner was born in Prague and trained at the Specialized Schools of Glassmaking in Nový Bor and Železný Brod, as well as the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague where he studied under Professor Karel Štipl. His graduate work explored smooth shapes and laid the foundation for what later became his signature style, and he finished school in 1962 during a time when glass was experiencing a renaissance in his country as both a utilitarian and an artistic material. Vízner first worked as a designer of machine-made glasswares before setting up his own studio in 1977 and would later remark that utilitarian objects were the key to his artwork; for him, a humble, basic form was the necessary basis for any creation.

By the late 1970s he was developing a reputation as an important international figure in the glass world and exhibited across the globe, including shows in Paris, Zurich, Vienna, and finally, in 1988, New York. Vízner also made large scale sculptures, such as the wall installation in the Karlovo námĕstí underground station in Prague. His life-long focus, however, was simple, small-scale minimalist forms in a variety of jewel-like colors. Every creation was the result of unrelenting focus and attention to detail, combined with exceptional technique and a deep understanding of the material, through which he transformed blocks of glass into seemingly weightless, sensual sculptures that absorb and transform light in an almost magical way.

Vízner’s work is held in important permanent collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris, the Neue Pinakothek, Munich, and the Museum of Applied Art and Craft, Prague.