Husband-and-wife team Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová are considered to be among Czechia’s preeminent glass artists, and their devotion to sculptural glass has exerted lasting international influence. The Cube in Sphere is a technically challenging and visually beguiling sculpture with innovative use of internal space. A premier example of the geometric, disciplined formal studies that Czech glass is known for, it is also a feat of technical accomplishment. Made of optical glass (an industrial material), the work could only have been fabricated in a factory setting and reflects the industrial bias of much Czech glass.

Stanislav Libenský (1921–2002) and Jaroslava Brychtová (1924–2020), The Cube in Sphere. Cast glass, 1978–79; recast in larger version, 1989. Diameter: 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm). Gift of Dorothy and George Saxe, 1993.5. On view in Gallery 6.