Titled 'The Kiss', a fabulous piece of Czech Republic art glass, etch-signed Brychtova Libensky. Jaroslava Brychtova and Stanislav Libensky were a married couple who created some of the defining cast glass sculptures and architectural installations of the 20th century. Their artistic partnership lasted almost 50 years, and works ranged from luminous geometry to spiritual figuration. In Communist Czechoslovakia, where the couple made their seminal work, artists who might have otherwise been censored could hide out in the “minor” art of glass while pursuing ideas like abstraction. The couple’s work was underwritten by the state, at least initially, and they exhibited at World Expos in Montreal in 1967 and Osaka, Japan, in 1970. After the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Communists cracked down on artists. Ms. Brychtova and Mr. Libensky were expelled from the party and forbidden to travel abroad together for a time. Over the decades, as their international reputation grew and their work was displayed at the Met and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, a younger generation of female glass artists drew inspiration from Jaroslava Brychtova. Provenance: Purchased by the consigner during Montreal World’s Fair (Expo 1967), Czechoslovakian Pavilion. Size: 6 x 2 x 6 in.