Blue Necklace
clear glass, painted with enamel and platinum, combined with cut pasted glass, signed and dated Eliáš 86, 100 x 75 x 12 cm (Zí)

The work comes from the author’s estate.
Literature: Bohumil Eliáš – Vital Creator, Galerie Aspekt, Brno, 2009, in color

After studying at the Nový Bor Glassmaking Professional Secondary School, Bohumil Eliáš continued at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design, in the Studio of Monumental Painting and Glass under Josef Kaplický. His first international success was at EXPO 67 in Montreal, where he exhibited his large Fountain. The year 1975 represented a milestone in his work. This is when he created the glass windows for the gothic church in Dobrš. The author effectively used the principle of horizontal layering of clear planes of glass, where glass of various thickness created optical effects and changing perceptions when viewed from various angles. The layering of cut glass panels became one of the most important principles of his work. Another principle of his work was his constant experimenting and combination of various techniques, with which he achieved unprecedented optical qualities in glass. In 1998, he became one of the founding members of the artists’ group Rubikon, which was founded by the theorist Ivo Křen. Alongside Bohumil Eliáš, the other members were Jan Exnar, Jaromír Rybák, Marian Volráb, and Jaroslav Matouš. Rubikon was a loose group comprised of the leading glass artists who exhibited together in the Czech Republic and abroad.
In 1985, he first drew on blown, hollow glass shapes at the IGS symposium in Nový Bor. He was able to organically connect artistic expression with glass, something he had been trying to achieve for years.
This work is the synthesis of his artistic techniques. Bohumil Eliáš painted the panel with platinum and bright enamel, then he combined it with glued panelled glass, thus creating a harmonious three-dimensional object. The Blue Necklace is a gallery piece in Eliáš’s work.