Henry R. Frankel Collection on Marian Karel and Dana Zámečníková

Henry R. Frankel studied and taught philosophy and the history of science at the University of Missouri, Kansas City for 43 years. He is best known for his work on the history of continental drift and plate tectonics theory in the field of geology. Frankel and his wife, Paula, were also patrons of the arts. They collected contemporary glass, and he wrote an article on the aesthetics of glass for the _Encyclopedia of Aesthetics_ (Oxford University Press, 1998). Frankel died in 2019.

Marian Karel was born in Pardubice / Pardubitz, Czech Republic in 1944. He studied under Stanislav Libenský at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague from 1965 to 1972. A sculptor who works in the medium of glass, he went on to teach at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design himself. In 1995, he earned the rank of professor and was appointed chair of the Fine Arts Department. Karel’s work may be found in a number of museums, including The Corning Museum of Glass and Museum Kampa. He also completed architecture and public art commissions in the Czech Republic, Egypt, Iran, Japan, and Spain.

Dana Zámečníková́ was born in Prague in 1945. She studied architecture at the Czech Technical University before studying stage design under Josef Svoboda at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. She began painting on glass in 1973; by 1980, she was working exclusively in the medium of glass. Her works are held by a number of museums, including The Corning Museum of Glass, the Victoria and Albert, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

Zámečníková and Karel are married and reside in the Czech Republic.