Lady of the Czech stained glass Jitka Kantová
For the summer holiday period of 2021, we are preparing an exhibition of works by the eminent glass artist Jitka Kantová from Lubenec near Karlovy Vary. There will be exhibits of stained glass, technically realized by her husband Richard Kanta, as well as glass objects with semi-precious stones, original jewelry and mosaics, glass vases and glasses created in collaboration with the glassmaker artist Jiří Pačinek, and porcelain sets created together with the academic painter Boris Nosek. The exhibition will be complemented by paintings from Kristina Folprechtová, the author’s mother.
The Opening will take place on 16th July 2021 from 4.00 pm with the participation of the authors and other artists who collaborate with the Kanta husband and wife team.
Jitka Kantová (1970) belongs to the very best of contemporary artists who are active in the unique field of stained glass. In the early 1990s, during an internship in Rottweil near Stuttgart, she not only learned the basics and secrets of this ancient craft, but she understood that stained glass is without doubt her destiny. After returning from the internship, she was so full of enthusiasm that she decided to start her own workshop and business in the field of stained glass.
Together with her former classmate from primary school, Richard Kanta, they joined their personal life with their business. Richard Kanta has the technical ability to realize his wife’s artistic visions and has done so from the very beginning.
Jitka Kantová has specialized in recent years in producing objects such as stained glass ceilings, paintings on glass, stained glass sculptures, etc. Her latest works of art include for example a stained glass piece commemorating the 700th anniversary of Charles IV’s birth; she achieved success at the EXPO 2015 in Italy with the Porta Bohemika stained glass, and collaborated among others with the American eccentric artist Kehind Wiley for the stained glass ceiling of New York’s Pennsylvania Train Station.
Amongst the activities of the Kanta husband and wife team is the rescue of a rural Gothic church dedicated to St. Giles in Libyně near Lubenec, where they are gradually installing a stained glass museum with unique stained glass windows and sculptures by Jitka Kantová.