Between Functional and Fine Art

FRANTISEK JUNGVIRT
MOVING BETWEEN FUNCTIONAL AND FINE ART

“I like to move between design and fine art in my work. While glass is an exceptional material full of possibilities, it takes love, humility, and patience to work with it. Transforming ideas into emotions is a privilege, but it is also a responsibility–one must be innovative while still honoring traditional glassmaking technics." / Frantisek Jungvirt

When it comes to Frantisek Jungvirt and the art of glass making, craftsmanship runs in the family. The 25-year-old artist and designer is the son of a joiner and the grandson of a man who spent several years engraving glass at Wimperk glass manufactory. He even gets his love for nature from his grandmother, a love that presents itself in many of the paintings and engravings on his pieces.

Jungvirt himself specialized in glass painting in high school before graduating from the Třeboň Secondary Art School. Since then, the young artist has worked as a glass designer and painter in Prague, working for international studios as well as world-famous luxury glass brands such as Moser and Preciosa. His work has even been featured in the collections of several Czech museums, attracting interest towards Czech glass making design while serving as a snapshot of the period.

THE ART OF CZECH GLASS

Frantisek Jungvirt has made a name for himself with his unique approach to Czech glass making, an art form that has centuries of tradition behind it, yet allows for innovation and remains cutting edge to this day. Czech glass, also known as Bohemian glass, has long been recognized for its hand-cut, engraved, blown, and painted design. It’s a tradition that Jungvirt delights in both honoring and subverting, creating pieces that use graceful classic elements with a unique twist. Most of Jungvirt’s pieces are entirely functional, such as his signature vases from the Garden Basic and Limited Collections. Using timeless shapes, the artist experiments with colors and color gradients to create stunning functional objects that are both classic and modern at the same time.

Frantisek Jungvirt isn’t afraid to be experimental, however. One of his more artistic pieces is Birth of Music, a glass violin that invokes the history and origins of music in a brilliantly crafted piece. This piece uses crystal-like glass to create a rough sculpture of a violin divided into two pieces, connected only by the strings in the center. It’s a striking piece that shows how creative Jungvirt can be at his most uninhibited.

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

It’s safe to say that, with all he has managed to accomplish at such a young age, Jungvirt’s superb talent and dedication make him a rising star in the contemporary art world. His current engagements involve a variety of projects ranging from art direction to glass design, although no matter what he’s working on, he’s constantly working on perfecting his unique artistic style. It’s this dedication to his craft and his new perspective on the historic art of Czech glassmaking that allows him to push the boundaries of what glass making can do.