René Roubíček (b. 1922) is one of the many Czech artists who expressed their abstract art ideas in glass to avoid censorship during the Communist occupation. While the official aim of the Communists was to rebuild the glass factories for production of industrial goods, the artists’ agenda was glass as fine art. The studio glass movement emerged from a desire to express the personal freedom and intellectual potential of the individual.

Roubíček educational background includes studying at the School of Decorative Arts in Prague (1940 – 1944), Academy of Applied Arts (1949 – 1950) and teaching at the Specialized School of Glassmaking (1945 – 1952). He was a designer at the national glassworks Novy Bor from 1955 to 1965 and taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague from 1966 to 1968.

Roubíček took part in all the important international group exhibits – Expo ’67 in Montreal, Expo ’70 in Osaka and Expo ’80 in Brussels and received a grand prize at Expo ’58 in Brussels for his large abstract sculpture made of multiple blown elements. The label described it as “an array of different kinds of glass materials” rather than a sculpture because it did not confirm to the tenets of Social Realism.

A major influence in modern glass design, Roubíček has worked since 1969 as a freelance artist, often in collaboration with his wife, Miluše Roubíčková, an eminent studio glass artist in her own right. The works of both artist have been exhibited over that last 40 years in major international expositions and museums.