MARTIN ROSOL

Martin Rosol first came to the United States in 1986 to pursue his career as a glass sculptor. His dream of becoming a glass sculptor was unavailable to him in his native Czechoslovakia before Vaclav Havel and the "Velvet Revolution" which transformed the country into what is now known as the Czech Republic. Martin, like many Czech glass workers, learned his trade in a "company school" set up to train craftsmen to execute limited edition designs for art glass manufacturers. Though the arrangement provided employment for many, it did not provide young artists with the degree required by the old regime to sell art. So, by day, Martin turned out functional art in the form of bowls and vases for the factory. At night, using scrap from the day's production, he created his own larger, more abstract pieces. Before long his sculptures were being exhibited in Europe and the United States, and in 1981, Martin was awarded the Bavarian State Prize for Glass Sculpture in Munich.

Eventually Martin was given the opportunity to travel to the U.S. and work with an established Glass Artist in New York State. He set up machines for the artist and worked with him in his studio, all the while perfecting his own skill. An interest for Rosol's work was established and Holsten Galleries in Stockbridge was among the first to sell some of Rosol's pieces during his initial stage in the U.S.  However, in the summer of 1986 his visa expired and the artist had no choice but to return to Czechoslovakia.

In 1994, the Rosol family became American citizens and moved to Massachusetts where Martin currently works in his own studio. Influenced mostly by architectural studies, Martin's sculptures are works of elegant design and craftsmanship. Made with several pieces of glass precisely cut from blocks of crystal, the glass is constructed in architectural forms after selected surfaces have been sand-blasted. The sculptures are multi-dimensional, some surfaces clear while some remain opaque. The results are like monuments to light.

Martin Rosol's public collections include:
 
The American Craft Museum in New York
The Kanazawa Museum in Japan
The Moravian National Gallery in the Czech Republic.