Czech Fairy Tales in Advertising

During the First Republic, when shopping at the grocery store, children would receive a short fairy-tale pamphlet as part of selecting specific merchandise. These were usually printed on double-sheets with color illustrations. Usually the first page contained a picture with the name of the fairy tale, the inner part then had the text and an...

Childrens Books

October 11, 2019

Czech Graphic Artist Jiří Slíva

Jiří Slíva was born in Pilsen in 1947 and has lived in Prague since 1966. After completing his studies in economics he spent eight years working as a sociologist and futurologist. Since 1979 he has worked very successfully as a freelance cartoonist, illustrator and graphic artist. Jiří Slíva’s first drawing was published in 1972. He...

Art and Design

August 22, 2019

Emil Holárek and the Fairy Tale of Innocence

We have a special treat for you today, a very rare peek into a satirical Czech Symbolist publication illustrated by Emil Holárek about an innocent little nymphet, who wears herself out between various institutions of state and society and the wickedness of their protagonists, finally ending up as a supposed culprit on the scaffold. In...

Art and Design, CULTURE

August 18, 2019

Czech Painter & Illustrator Jiří Pařík

Jiří Pařík ( February 21, 1930 Prague – December 1, 1999 Prague) was a Czech painter, draftsman , illustrator, graphic artist and cartoonist. He was the son of sculptor Antonín Pařík. He belonged to the circle of friends of the famous writer Bohumil Hrabal. When in a Prague antique store this past summer, I happened...

Art and Design, Bohemians

May 25, 2019

Learning About the Czech Alphabet

One of our favorite Czech alphabet works were published as an “experimental textbook” that most remember as school posters entitled, Živá abeceda (pokusná učebnice) (Living Alphabet), published by the State Pedagogical Publishing House in 1954. Živá abeceda was created as a collective and featured the talents of Jarmila Hřebejková, Irena Fabianová, Anna Šimanová; illustrated by...

Childrens Books

June 22, 2018

The Life and Illustrations of Josef Paleček

Josef Paleček has won awards in Austria, Germany, France, and received honorary mention multiple times in the competitions for The Most Beautiful Book of the Year. His illustrations have caught the eyes and touched the hearts of people all over the world and one does not have to look far to see why. His illustrations...

Art and Design, CULTURE

June 21, 2018

Read This – Slovakia: The Legend of the Linden

Slovakia: The Legend of the Linden is a fully illustrated book about the folklore of the Linden tree, a beautiful tree native to both the Czech Republic and Slovakia which is also the national symbol for both lands. This beautiful book offers an in-depth history of Slovakia based around the Linden tree, or “Lípa” as...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

March 24, 2018

Czech Animation Master Jiří Trnka Documentary

Today we are sharing a short twelve minute documentary which will educate you on the famous Czech puppet-maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. A man who some believe was better than Walt Disney at telling a tale and a man who is known as one of the Czech Republic’s greatest animators, puppeteers, illustrators and story...

Bohemians, Childrens Books, Movies, PEOPLE

February 19, 2018

My Old Czech Letters from 1920

Sometimes it’s just an image. Other times it may be a bit more, like the delicate penmanship which caught my eye the first time I saw these old Czech letters and just knew that I had to have them. I believed the illustrations to be drawn on, but in fact they are some sort of...

NOSTALGIA, Time Warp

January 20, 2018

Interesting Illustrations by Adolf Born

Adolf Born was an illustrator, caricaturist, painter, and filmmaker from the Czech Republic. He was born in the Czech town of České Velenice, which is located on the border of South Bohemia and Austria, in June of 1930. In 1935, he moved to Prague with his family where he attended the School of Applied Arts...

Art and Design, CULTURE

August 20, 2017

Bohumil Stepan Illustrates Gulliver in Gulliverovy Cesty

Bohumil Štěpán (April 12, 1913 Krivoklat – March 1, 1985 Mnichov) was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist. He studied at the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts and the Rotter Graphic School in Prague. He printed his first drawings in the student magazine H2SO4. In 1937, he exhibited a figural composition in the foyer of...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

August 12, 2017

Otakar Štáfl Takes Us To The Moon and Beyond

Otakar Štáfl was born on December 30, 1884 in Havlíčkův Brod. Located in the medieval town fortifications of Havlíčkův Brod is a bastion, which today bears the name of Otakar Štáfla. He had his studio on the premises. He did not finish grammar school and headed straight for Prague where he was admitted to the...

Childrens Books, ENTERTAINMENT

July 26, 2017

Winnetou, Old Shatterhand and Old Surehand by Karl May

Karl Friedrich May (February 25, 1842 – March 30, 1912) was a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West. His main protagonists are Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. It began with Winnetou. Winnetou, the chief of the Apache, is a legend in many countries, especially in then-called Czechoslovakia. Fresh off...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

July 12, 2017

Twelve Fairy Tales Illustrated by Jiří Trnka

Today we are looking at the lovely illustrations by Jiří Trnka from the book Dvanáct pohádek (Twelve Fairy Tales) by Jiří Mahen. The book these came from was published in 1947 and has 122 pages. We have written about the work of Jiří Trnka before, when we reviewed his film Ruka (The Hand) and looked at scenes from...

Childrens Books, ENTERTAINMENT