Vlastimil Beránek

Vlastimil Beránek (1960 – Czech Republic) 

Vlastimil Beránek creates monumental glass sculptures that draw upon Bohemian crystal craftsmanship while expanding into new conceptual territories. Born into a family of glass artists, he studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague in the 1980s and trained under Stanislav Libenský, one of the greatest pioneers of cast-glass sculpture. The casting technique, which involves pouring heated glass into moulds, revolutionized glass as a fine art medium in the 1960s and 1970s, enabling the creation of large, solid, three-dimensional forms. Beránek's work embodies the evolution of studio glass from established traditions of precision cutting, engraving, and crystal refinement toward bold sculptural expression. Characterized by elemental simplicity, his unique works are inspired by nature's transformative phenomena: water's crystalline essence, smoke's ethereal quality, oceanic creatures, and cosmic forms. 

Exhibitions 

Pioneering underwater exhibition 'Protect the Fragility', Mediterranean Sea (2017); Toyama International Glass Exhibition, Japan (2018); EXPO 2020 Dubai, presenting the world's largest polished Bohemian crystal sculpture ‘Venus’ (2021); Etihad Museum, Dubai (2023); first exhibition of Bohemian crystal sculptures in Latin America, Bogotá, Colombia (2023); Czernin Palace, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Prague (2023); 'Gates of the Underground', Basilica Cistern, Istanbul (2024); ‘Stillness in Motion / Immobilità in Movimento’, Barovier&Toso ARTE, Venice (2025). 

Publications 

Oldrich Palata, ‘Stanislav Libenský a jeho škola’ (Stanislav Libenský and his School), Prague, 2001; ‘The Book. Vlastimil Beránek’, Prague: Voala, 2017; ‘Vlastimil Beránek’, Prague, 2023; ‘Stillness in Motion / Immobilità in Movimento’, exh. cat., Palazzo Barovier&Toso, Murano-Venice, 13 June – 12 Nov. 2025, Venice: Barovier&Toso ARTE, 2025. 

Collections 

His works are held in collections including the Glass Museum of Liberec, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Armenia, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Detroit, the World Expo Museum in Dubai and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogotá.