Poster art by Jaroslav Fišer for Věra Chytilová’s films.
We can hardly hide our excitement about BFI’s wonderful retrospective of one of the most innovative Czech filmmakers Věra Chytilová. It is also a very good opportunity to introduce the work of Jaroslav Fišer, prolific graphic designer and author of several posters for her films.
Jaroslav Fišer studied at the Technical University in Prague and at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague, former Czechoslovakia. During 1959 – 1987 Jaroslav Fišer designed 104 movie posters and his poster for film The Apple Game won a Silver Hugo at the International Film Festival in Chicago, USA.
BFI’s tribute to the director is organised in collaboration with Czech Centre, London and Czech National Film Archive and is on from 1st March – 17th March 2015.
Movie posters designed for Věra Chytilová’s films:
The Apple Game movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1976.
The Panel Story movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1979.
The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1984.
The Jester and The Queen movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1987.
Selection of movie posters by Jaroslav Fišer:
Please don’t wake me up movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1962.
Adam’s Two Ribs movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1964.
Check Passed: No Mines movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1966.
The Third One movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1968.
A Flea in Her Ear movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1969.
Litle Big Man movie poster by Jaroslav Fišer, 1973.
It is fairly interesting when thinking of Rudolf Altrichter’s designs for film posters, that behind all this visual trickery is hidden self-taught artist. Originally trained as a sales man (worked also for Bata / shoemaker company) he became one of the most influential Slovak graphic artist. In his thirties he became one of the establishing members of newly reopen Slovak Art Society (1946) and year later co-founder of Association of Slovak Graphic Artists (1947).
Rudolf Altrichter’s film posters are full of visual harmony, unusually blended by pure abstraction and the hints of reality. Human element appears to be one of his strongest standing point, no matter if it is design for art exhibition, film or political poster. Visual harmony is also represented by the use of elegant thin lines and curvy almost psychedelic shapes. Absurdity of the war, another of his characteristic motifs, can be also seen on several of his film posters. Film poster designed for French drama Dangerous Love Affairs / Dangerous Liaisons (shown bellow, designed in 1969), belongs to the selection of the most significant acquisitions of the Poster and Graphic Design Collection of Slovak National Gallery.
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Dangerous Love Affairs movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
Talking Caftan movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
Traces on the Sitno movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1968.
What a Lovely War movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
The Upthrown Stone movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1970.
Girl from the Mountains movie poster by Altrichter, 1972.
We have prepared another Poster Sale to make our film poster collection accessible to anyone as passionate about the art from Czechoslovakia as we are. Please take advantage of our Poster Sales to get your hands on some of the best designs in the history of poster art. Enter the coupon –
poster art
– into a coupon field when checking out. Sale will run until 7.11.2015. Enjoy!
You can also tell your friends by sharing this link (bellow).
Note: Free shipping on multiple orders. Secure checkout.
Poster Sales. 22% off your basket. Type – poster art – in coupon field when checking out.
1982 – Grand Prix for portrait work, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1984 – Prize of the Ministry of Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina for portrait work at International Biennial of Portrait, Tuzla
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Happiness movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1966.
Barefoot in the Park movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1967.
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[quote]“Stanislav Vajce’s art of painting – if by this we mean the art of masterfully guiding the brush – resolutely rejects the academic approach to painting and replaces it with a sensitive and sweeping painting style.”4 [/quote]
It’s almost tradition that many Czechoslovak poster designers were involved in painting or had some sort of fine art study background. 1950s were accumulating incredible potential and vitality among artists, but political climate of totalitarianism was breeding machine-like art and did not allow any personal burst out.5 In mid 50s Stalinist era was slowly ceasing to extinction and for the following decade Czechoslovakia was witnessing quite surprising changes. Many artists were meeting up in newly created art groups or were allowed solo exhibitions. However, political apparatus was still in charge as the movie poster commissioner had a good number of contemporary artists circulating on their list.
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I Was Nineteen movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1968.
Tanta Zita movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1968.
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Pure fascination awaits for those who choose to observe movie posters of Stanislav Vajce closely. His inspiration seems endless and same goes to his ability to work with such an infinity. Stanislav Vajce’s devotion to art matter started fairly early in his age. As a 15 year old boy, he traveled daily to Klatovy in order to apprentice as a sign-painter and gilder.6 This affection remained with him ever since; in his future art, as well as he was frequently using gold and hand typing in his poster work.
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Elvira Madigan movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1969.
Fathom movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1969.
[quote]“Vajce is also in habit of listening to music while painting when he is alone in his studio. ”7 [/quote]
Watch out for Susie! movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
Pierre and Paul movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
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Stanislav Vajce’s movie posters are real joy to look at, he blends many different techniques that are meeting in very amusing results. There is no limitation to his designing approach. He likes to play with the surface and texture, mixing montage, collage and obviously the brush stroke. The use of every day objects and body parts are repeatedly reoccurring. His use of eye cutouts is almost as striking as the famous scene’s from Luis Buñuel’s and Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou, eye element keeps returning in several of his posters. Stanislav Vajce’s poster designs are only a step away from his paintings, but unlike in his fascinating assemblages, he likes to employ that cinematic touch in his posters and that is the use of the photograph. Breaking boundaries (in design) seems the most natural to him. His movie posters are pure visual poetry with certain tenderness and delicacy.
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The Nice Bourgeois Guy movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
Twelve chairs movie posters by Stanislav Vajce, 1971.
The Lawyer movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1971.
Troubleshooters movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1972.
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Between 1964 − 1972 Stanislav Vajce designed 24 movie posters. He emigrated together with his family to West Germany in 1987 where they live ever since.
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Interview with Stanislav Vajce’s wife Eva:
We felt very privileged and lucky at the same time when we’ve heard from Stanislav Vajce’s daughter in law Kirsten. We are willing to make an interview with exile poster artist for so long and are constantly trying to find those “channels”, but we were never as close. It did not take long and we were granted with the reply from Stanislav’s wife Eva Vajce89 . We were very happy to find out that she would try to answer some of our questions. Unfortunately Stanislav Vajce’s health does not allow him to participate in this interview. Several questions regarding actual poster designing processes had to be deleted, but we believe Mrs. Eva’s fascinating replies are telling more than we could ever ask for.
[quote]“At the beginning I have to let you know that my husband is seriously ill and unfortunately he will not be able to give answers to your questions. In regards to your effort in trying to approach Stanislav, I would love to try to answer some of them, at least briefly, according to my knowledge.”[/quote]
Angel Messenger, 1991
Smile, 1991
Gentle Girl, 1991
Coquette, 1991
We’ve learned that after your studies at Secondary School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště (1954 – 58) you graduated from Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1959 – 63). What were the possibilities for a young graduate of the art school in the mid 1960s in the totalitarian state, in embrace of Communist propaganda and social realism?
[quote]“My husband studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague a monumental painting under the supervision of professor Fišárek. Since he was not in the Communist Party, he did not expect to be able to live of painting, or to get any sort of architectural commissions and began to devote himself to book graphics. He discovered the art of gramophone record covers was not efficient enough. Record company Artia10 had business success around the world with top-class recordings of classical music, but had sales difficulties due to the appearance of the product. Records with his packaging were the attraction for foreign buyers. Along with that, he started to design posters, illustrations, etc.”[/quote]
Harlequin, 1989
Behind the Curtain, 1988-89
I Had a Dream, 1994
Antique Landscape, 1999
Between 1964 – 1972 you’ve been working on movie posters, similarly as many other contemporary artists. Why was the poster making so popular among artists and what brought you to designing?
[quote]“Poster designs were relatively well paid at that time, thus quite a fight/competition among the graphic artists, it was simply a question of existence. Otherwise, my husband did not belong to these typical “graphic artists”, which is why, as I suppose, he was not represented on poster exhibitions, even though the quality of his work deserved it. On the contrary he did not care about the appreciation, it was indifferent and unfamiliar to him. The commissions for the posters were coming from Mrs. XX, I do not remember her name anymore, because Stanislav was sympathetic and did not ask for any. There was the so-called art committee made out of artists such as Vaca, etc., similarly as with all art commissions. The members of such a committee were nominated by the Union of Fine Artists and they were politically engaged to the party, in many times it did not matter how good their art was. The most of the contracts were distributed among themselves. If Stanislav occasionally passed, it was always because of the high quality of his artwork, he was always aside of art groups or unions. Graphic artists were holding together quite strongly. Perhaps, in my opinion, they had complex from “painters”.[/quote]
Metamorphosis, 1990
An Evening Alone, 1982
1960s have brought considerable liberalisation to countries such as Czechoslovakia. Changes have been evident in literature, film and art as such. State borders ceased to be as much guarded and few artists at that time managed to present their work also abroad. The films of the Czechoslovak New Wave won several awards at major film festivals and Czechoslovakia reappeared on the map of the world. Film posters took place in international competitions and many artists have been featured in such prestigious magazines as Graphis or Gebrauchsgrafik. However occupation of Czechoslovakia by the associated states of the Warsaw Pact at the end of August 1968 made early end to all of this. Normalisation has prevented many artists from continuing to work, some have been forced to emigrate, and many names have disappeared from poster scene. How did the situation after August 68 reflected on your work?
Somewhere in Italy, 1968
[quote]“In 1966, we managed to travel to Italy and my husband fell in love with Italian countryside. After our return, he began to paint pictures inspired by this journey and by chance, the head of one of Dílo’s galleries (“Artwork” Gallery – which was the sales section of the Union of Fine Artists) who saw them in the studio persuaded my husband to put them on sale. Since all the works of art had to go through the committees consisting of artists with party and political commitment and approval, the matter was rather disgusting. Still, here and then they had been forced to approve some of his work, so he devoted himself much more to painting.”[/quote]
[quote]“The most important for Stanislav was that his paintings had a great response and many were sold. Directors of Dílo Galleries had to show revenue, so they were trying to commission husband’s paintings by personal agreement with agents, etc. The secretary of the Union of Fine Artists Dr. Lhota was also admirer of husband’s work and if there was any show cancellation and exhibition gallery became vacant, he literally sneaked my husband in within very short notice.”[/quote]
[quote]“Another one of his admirer was the poet Karel Sýs, a convinced communist, to whom my husband illustrated poems. Karel Sýs had a great literary interest in husband’s art and because he was the editor of Rudé Právo11, he enforced publishing. On one hand, we were spied on, because of our religious foreign ecumenical engagement and political dubiousness, on the other hand my husband had influential advocates who tried to make his work available to the public. It was all due to the fact that his paintings were irresistible for the large audience, art collectors and exhibitors had great success with them.”[/quote]
Dream, 1978
[quote]“Such a system was censoring all of the artistic activities, not only for graphic art and that was the biggest dirt (not to be called otherwise). The system allowed to distribute contracts among artists not by the quality of their work, but because of the political engagement. Simply said.”[/quote]
[quote]“From my own experience in 1986, when committee openly said to the architect and investor: Vajce does not get an approval stamp on her proposal, she had guzzled enough already, she will never get a bite again, literally in exactly same words. (I previously won an anonymous competition where members of the government committee and architects mistakenly assumed I was in the party, and because they liked my proposal the most, they overpowered the Union of Fine Artists (fiasco). This is just to illustrate the situation, I’m writing to you openly, as it was.”[/quote]
Night Stage, 1991
Stop!, 2001
Voice of the Forest, 2001
Rotation, 2011
It is clear that the main poster commissioner was ÚPF (Ústřední Půjčovna Filmů / Formal state distribution 1957-1991) with its own censoring committee that was deciding which posters could go into distribution. In article with Zdeněk Ziegler we read that some of the poster designers as Karel Vaca, or Dobroslav Foll were also part of such a committee.12 Could you describe a little how was approval process working and what were the selection criteria? Or were there any taboos that were not permitted to be shown?
[quote]“As I see it, the main criteria was money distribution.”[/quote]
It’s almost half of the century that you have not been designing film posters, nevertheless they still look very modern and impressive. How do you personally perceive them after such a long distance of time?
[quote]“In my opinion, they appear in such a way, because graphic art was always taking part in Stanislav’s versatile art besides of illustration, landscape painting, portrait, drawing, monumental painting, sculpture.”[/quote]
Meditation, 2001
Many thanks to Eva & Stanislav Vajce for sharing their precious time and knowledge with us.
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Examples of record sleeves designed by Stanislav Vajce:
Dvořák, Symphony No. 6 In D Major, Supraphon, 1966.
Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Violin Concerto, Supraphon, 1968.
Beethoven, String Quartet Opus No. 132, Supraphon, 1968.
Vítězslav Novák, Supraphon, 1967.
Collection of Czech and Slovak Modern Poetry I., Supraphon, 1967.
Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 3 In A Minor, Supraphon, 1988.
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Please see other fascinating posters designed by Stanislav Vajce.
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Resources:
Literature:
3. Milena Klasová: Stanislav Vajce / Galerie Klatovy, 2015 / published for Stanislav Vajce’s retrospective, also printed debut about artist
Collective authors: Czech film posters of 20th century / The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Exlibris Prague, 2004.
12. Flashback / Czech and Slovak Film Posters 1959-1989, ed. Libor Gronský, Marek Perůtka, Michal Soukup, Olomouc Museum of Art, 2004, p.34 (Welcome to hard times… by Zdeněk Ziegler)
Images of Stanislav Vajce’s artwork are property of the artist and are all copyrighted.
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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters, please read Take 1 / Take 2, or see artist’s INDEX for more blog posts.
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Book Illustration / Fine Art / Graphic Design / Typography
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Legacy of the Incas movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1967.
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b. 17th January 1929, Hostěradice (Prague-West), Czech Republic
Education:
1945 − 1949, State Graphic School, Prague (Richard Lander)
1949 − 1955, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague (Karel Svolinský)
Art Groups:
Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar / Sdružení českých umělců grafiků Hollar (1957)
May 57 / Máj 57 (1964)
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Remember the day when we were unfolding our first large size movie poster. There was quite an excitement about the whole thing. Firstly it was about the size of a poster. All of our movie posters were in A3 size until then and we were astonished by the remarkable change in dimensions. Almost three times larger in size, movie poster offered much clearer detail and we had impression that printing was handled with slightly extra care. For common reason as we had later found out, A1 posters were bit more representative, they were used occasionally for poster exhibitions. Our second astonishment was the visual content.
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Black Panther movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1966.
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Josef Duchoň’s lovingly puzzled collage for children’s adventurous movie set in the jungle (Black Mountain, 1972) was tenderly looking at us. What a joy! His movie posters have become one of our most favourite ever since. As we are describing the temperature, we could also mention, that we have very similar feelings towards Ever Alexander Půček‘s children’s posters.
Fascination of Josef Duchoň with children’s fantasy is in the right place and it was frequently reflected in his book illustrations. From 1959 he was co-working for the State publisher of children book as an illustrator. Early 1960s brought Josef Duchoň also to movie poster design. He created over two dozens of exceptionally impressive movie posters in period of almost 20 years1.
His work is extremely explosive, but not in a destructive way. On the other hand, Josef Duchoň is using the mixture of several artistic methods to reach viewer’s sensation. As a surreal artist his choice of collage technique is natural. Wonderful variation of live pastel colours achieved by the use of elegantly shaped and carefully placed woodcuts and his manipulation with objects is masterful. Thanks to monochrome cut outs and neat typography his movie posters are gaining quite significant depth and very vibrant character.
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The Birds the Bees and the Italians movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1967.
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Josef Duchoň started exhibiting as a member of Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar in mid 1950s2. (Important art group established in Prague, 1917.) Among 1613 Czech leading artists and graphic designers one can find other interesting poster artists such as Jiří Balcar, Adolf Born, Jan Kubíček, Jiří Šalamoun or Jaroslav Sůra to name few.
His first solo exhibition is dated to 1960. Liberal Czechoslovakia allowed Josef Duchoň to exhibit work also internationally. He took part in Biennale of Young Artists / Paris (France, 1963), Intergrafik / Berlin (Germany, 1965), Myth of the XXth Century / Coventry (UK, 1967) or in exhibition of Czech graphic artists in Oregon (USA, 1967). It seems that 1970s political changes stopped his exhibition activities for some time. There was no place for surreal, or any sort of abstraction in uniformed Czechoslovakia. However children’s publications were not censored, anything was possible in there and movie posters just very mildly4. Josef Duchoň remained faithful to a fantasy.
Please see other fascinating posters designed by the artist.
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Resources:
Literature:
1. Collective authors: Czech film posters of 20th century / The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Exlibris Prague, 2004. Josef Duchoň’s movie poster appears in year 1964 in their chronological catalogue. Our poster archive dates his movie poster activity up to 1981.
Online:
2.abArt / Josef Duchoň / Big thanks to abArt for their research on invisible.
Book Illustration / Caricature / Film Animation / Painting
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Jan Brychta’s poster design for movie adaptation of Karel Čapek’s novel, 1964.
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11th of May 1928, Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
14th of November 2013, London (?), United Kingdom
lived in London exile since 1968
Education:
State Graphic School, Prague (Zdeněk Balaš, Josef Vodrážka)
1945 – 19.., Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (Josef Kaplický, Antonín Pelc)
Exhibitions:
from late 1950s until 1968 mostly Prague exhibitions
Surrealism Unlimited 1968 – 1978, Camden Arts Centre, London 1978
Awards for Film Animation:
The main prize in the category of animated films, Oberhausen 1966
The prize of the union of cinema owners, Oberhausen 1966
Grand Prix “Bronze Caesar”, Tours 1966
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In 1968 Jan Brychta vanished off the face of the earth and that is the fact. Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 brought in many immediate changes within the state. Political trials were about to return back to fashion and not everyone was waiting for the resume. Or at least Jan Brychta did not.
It would be hard to say what made such a successful artist leave his homeland, as Jan Brychta’s art was everywhere and available to everyone in all possible forms. From beautifully illustrated books, film animations to caricatures in daily newspaper and television graphics / adverts. Simply put 1960s daily life was somehow incomplete without Jan Brychta.
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Five Minutes to Seven movie poster by Jan Brychta, 1965.
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It is fascinating to watch how with short step in time and history someone so publicly pleasing can become persona non grata. Researching many years later it really looks that party members did a great job. There was no Jan Brychta after 1968 in Czechoslovakia and same for his wife Lída Brychtová (artist and book illustrator) as they managed to escape the country together with their children Edita and Aleš.
Through out his Czechoslovak career as a daily caricaturist, film animator and pioneer of television graphics Jan Brychta was never far away from the movie poster. His rapid illustration and excellent story telling could be easily applied to the discipline. As a surreal artist and two dimensional painter use of a collage and illustration was a natural choice. His portfolio ends with his disappearance in late 1960s. Jan Brychta’s posters are absolute pleasure to look at and it is real pity it does not contain more than ten movie posters. The master of many techniques with only one common goal which was to keep everyone amused.
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Our Household, third volume of the annual guide for modern family illustrated by Jan Brychta, 1963.
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British audience could recognise Jan Brychta’s illustration thanks to BBC children’s television series Jackanory.
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Television graphics by Jan Brychta, Adolf Born and other pioneers of 1960s TV visuals.
Krátky Film, Praha / Short Film, Prague. Archive of Jan Brychta’s 1960s animated films.
Images used:
Collective authors: Záznamník – Naše Domácnost 3 / Family Guide Jotter – Our Household Vol.3. Obchodní Tiskárny, Praha, 1963. Cover and inner pages of the book.
Film a Doba 1 / Film and Times 1 / Bratislava City Gallery, 1965. Magazine spread out.
Art Editor / Book Illustration / Graphic Art / Typography
Book cover design, colour letterpress, Robert Brož, 1970 *
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– b. 10th of August 1939, Prague-Čelákovice, Czech Republic
Education:
– 1954−1958, School of Industrial Art, Bratislava
Exhibitions:
– Biennale Brno 1966, 1970 and later
– Bratislava, Prague, Sofia, 1968
– BIB, Biennale of Book Illustration, Bratislava 1969, 1971 and later
– IBA Leipzig, 1971
– Biennale Warsaw 1971, 1975
– Barcelona, Berlin 1973
Awards:
– Diploma, International exhibition of young poster designers, Sofia, 1968
– Merit Award, IBA Leipzig, 1971
– Merit Award, The most beautiful book of the Year, Bratislava, 1972 and 1977
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Excellent typography – Pilgrimage to San Jago, Robert Brož, 1973.
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Robert Brož’s appearance in Czechoslovak film poster archive is rather rarity, even though designing posters was one of his main profession. As a typographer and graphic designer he has created numerous number of book covers (Bronze Medal, IBA Lepzig, 1971), posters and specialised in creating ex libris for collectors. He was also editor and graphic designer of Slovak publishing house Osveta.
We only know of one single film poster Robert Brož has ever designed. It was created for children’s tale Pilgrimage to San Jago (unofficial title) and done very much in what you would call Brussel style. Common design resonating pretty much in everything made in late Sixties Czechoslovakia (precious times swept away by shady 1970’s propaganda).
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Bratislava City Gallery / Galéria Mesta Bratislavy, logo design, Robert Brož, 1971.**
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Finding out Robert Brož’s name on majority of books published for Slovak photographer Martin Martinček made us nicely surprised. Martin Martinček’s photography is hugely admired by us and we thought you might like to see more examples of Robert Brož’s design. As he was not exactly movie poster designer, we still believe in his importance in Czechoslovak graphic art and are adding his name to our Sixties designers list.
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Martin Martinček / Cradle – photography book cover, Robert Brož, 1972.***
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We will be coming back to Martin Martinček in later individual posts on photography, where we’ll try to show a glimpse of his excellent work and maybe we’ll even reveal some of his unseen prints from our collection of photographs.
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Martin Martinček / Highlanders – photography book design, Robert Brož, 1975.****
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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.
***
Resources:
Literature:
II. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno ’66, Medzinárodní Výstava Knižní Grafiky a Ilustrace, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 2nd Biennale of Graphic Design Brno ’66, The International Exhibition of Book Graphics and Illustrations, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1966
IV. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1970, Medzinárodní Přehlídka Plakátu a Propagační Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 4th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1970, The International Exhibition of Poster and Promotional Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1970
V. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1972, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 5th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1972, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1972
VII. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1976, Mezinárodní výstava ilustrace a knižní grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 7th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1976, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1976
IX. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1980, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 9th Biennale of Graphic Design 1980, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1980
* Collective authors: Stretnutie / Meetings, Martin 1970. Book cover, colour letterpress. V. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1972, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 5th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1972, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1972 (p.55)
** logo – Martin Martinček – Exhibition Catalogue, Hora a horské bystriny / Mountain and mountain stream (unofficial translation). Galéria Mesta Bratislavy / Bratislava City Gallery, 1971
*** book cover – Martin Martinček – Milan Rúfus, Kolíska / Cradle (unofficial translation). Osveta, Banská Bystrica, 1972.
**** book cover, book design – Martin Martinček, Vrchári / Highlanders (unofficial translation). Osveta, Martin, 1975
***
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It is fairly interesting when thinking of Rudolf Altrichter’s designs for film posters, that behind all this visual trickery is hidden self-taught artist. Originally trained as a sales man (worked also for Bata / shoemaker company) he became one of the most influential Slovak graphic artist. In his thirties he became one of the establishing members of newly reopen Slovak Art Society (1946) and year later co-founder of Association of Slovak Graphic Artists (1947).
Rudolf Altrichter’s film posters are full of visual harmony, unusually blended by pure abstraction and the hints of reality. Human element appears to be one of his strongest standing point, no matter if it is design for art exhibition, film or political poster. Visual harmony is also represented by the use of elegant thin lines and curvy almost psychedelic shapes. Absurdity of the war, another of his characteristic motifs, can be also seen on several of his film posters. Film poster designed for French drama Dangerous Love Affairs / Dangerous Liaisons (shown bellow, designed in 1969), belongs to the selection of the most significant acquisitions of the Poster and Graphic Design Collection of Slovak National Gallery.
***
Dangerous Love Affairs movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
Talking Caftan movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
Traces on the Sitno movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1968.
What a Lovely War movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
The Upthrown Stone movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1970.
Girl from the Mountains movie poster by Altrichter, 1972.
We have prepared another Poster Sale to make our film poster collection accessible to anyone as passionate about the art from Czechoslovakia as we are. Please take advantage of our Poster Sales to get your hands on some of the best designs in the history of poster art. Enter the coupon –
poster art
– into a coupon field when checking out. Sale will run until 7.11.2015. Enjoy!
You can also tell your friends by sharing this link (bellow).
Note: Free shipping on multiple orders. Secure checkout.
Poster Sales. 22% off your basket. Type – poster art – in coupon field when checking out.
1982 – Grand Prix for portrait work, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1984 – Prize of the Ministry of Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina for portrait work at International Biennial of Portrait, Tuzla
•••
Happiness movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1966.
Barefoot in the Park movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1967.
•••
[quote]“Stanislav Vajce’s art of painting – if by this we mean the art of masterfully guiding the brush – resolutely rejects the academic approach to painting and replaces it with a sensitive and sweeping painting style.”4 [/quote]
It’s almost tradition that many Czechoslovak poster designers were involved in painting or had some sort of fine art study background. 1950s were accumulating incredible potential and vitality among artists, but political climate of totalitarianism was breeding machine-like art and did not allow any personal burst out.5 In mid 50s Stalinist era was slowly ceasing to extinction and for the following decade Czechoslovakia was witnessing quite surprising changes. Many artists were meeting up in newly created art groups or were allowed solo exhibitions. However, political apparatus was still in charge as the movie poster commissioner had a good number of contemporary artists circulating on their list.
•••
I Was Nineteen movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1968.
Tanta Zita movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1968.
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Pure fascination awaits for those who choose to observe movie posters of Stanislav Vajce closely. His inspiration seems endless and same goes to his ability to work with such an infinity. Stanislav Vajce’s devotion to art matter started fairly early in his age. As a 15 year old boy, he traveled daily to Klatovy in order to apprentice as a sign-painter and gilder.6 This affection remained with him ever since; in his future art, as well as he was frequently using gold and hand typing in his poster work.
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Elvira Madigan movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1969.
Fathom movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1969.
[quote]“Vajce is also in habit of listening to music while painting when he is alone in his studio. ”7 [/quote]
Watch out for Susie! movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
Pierre and Paul movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
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Stanislav Vajce’s movie posters are real joy to look at, he blends many different techniques that are meeting in very amusing results. There is no limitation to his designing approach. He likes to play with the surface and texture, mixing montage, collage and obviously the brush stroke. The use of every day objects and body parts are repeatedly reoccurring. His use of eye cutouts is almost as striking as the famous scene’s from Luis Buñuel’s and Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou, eye element keeps returning in several of his posters. Stanislav Vajce’s poster designs are only a step away from his paintings, but unlike in his fascinating assemblages, he likes to employ that cinematic touch in his posters and that is the use of the photograph. Breaking boundaries (in design) seems the most natural to him. His movie posters are pure visual poetry with certain tenderness and delicacy.
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The Nice Bourgeois Guy movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
Twelve chairs movie posters by Stanislav Vajce, 1971.
The Lawyer movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1971.
Troubleshooters movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1972.
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Between 1964 − 1972 Stanislav Vajce designed 24 movie posters. He emigrated together with his family to West Germany in 1987 where they live ever since.
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Interview with Stanislav Vajce’s wife Eva:
We felt very privileged and lucky at the same time when we’ve heard from Stanislav Vajce’s daughter in law Kirsten. We are willing to make an interview with exile poster artist for so long and are constantly trying to find those “channels”, but we were never as close. It did not take long and we were granted with the reply from Stanislav’s wife Eva Vajce89 . We were very happy to find out that she would try to answer some of our questions. Unfortunately Stanislav Vajce’s health does not allow him to participate in this interview. Several questions regarding actual poster designing processes had to be deleted, but we believe Mrs. Eva’s fascinating replies are telling more than we could ever ask for.
[quote]“At the beginning I have to let you know that my husband is seriously ill and unfortunately he will not be able to give answers to your questions. In regards to your effort in trying to approach Stanislav, I would love to try to answer some of them, at least briefly, according to my knowledge.”[/quote]
Angel Messenger, 1991
Smile, 1991
Gentle Girl, 1991
Coquette, 1991
We’ve learned that after your studies at Secondary School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště (1954 – 58) you graduated from Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1959 – 63). What were the possibilities for a young graduate of the art school in the mid 1960s in the totalitarian state, in embrace of Communist propaganda and social realism?
[quote]“My husband studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague a monumental painting under the supervision of professor Fišárek. Since he was not in the Communist Party, he did not expect to be able to live of painting, or to get any sort of architectural commissions and began to devote himself to book graphics. He discovered the art of gramophone record covers was not efficient enough. Record company Artia10 had business success around the world with top-class recordings of classical music, but had sales difficulties due to the appearance of the product. Records with his packaging were the attraction for foreign buyers. Along with that, he started to design posters, illustrations, etc.”[/quote]
Harlequin, 1989
Behind the Curtain, 1988-89
I Had a Dream, 1994
Antique Landscape, 1999
Between 1964 – 1972 you’ve been working on movie posters, similarly as many other contemporary artists. Why was the poster making so popular among artists and what brought you to designing?
[quote]“Poster designs were relatively well paid at that time, thus quite a fight/competition among the graphic artists, it was simply a question of existence. Otherwise, my husband did not belong to these typical “graphic artists”, which is why, as I suppose, he was not represented on poster exhibitions, even though the quality of his work deserved it. On the contrary he did not care about the appreciation, it was indifferent and unfamiliar to him. The commissions for the posters were coming from Mrs. XX, I do not remember her name anymore, because Stanislav was sympathetic and did not ask for any. There was the so-called art committee made out of artists such as Vaca, etc., similarly as with all art commissions. The members of such a committee were nominated by the Union of Fine Artists and they were politically engaged to the party, in many times it did not matter how good their art was. The most of the contracts were distributed among themselves. If Stanislav occasionally passed, it was always because of the high quality of his artwork, he was always aside of art groups or unions. Graphic artists were holding together quite strongly. Perhaps, in my opinion, they had complex from “painters”.[/quote]
Metamorphosis, 1990
An Evening Alone, 1982
1960s have brought considerable liberalisation to countries such as Czechoslovakia. Changes have been evident in literature, film and art as such. State borders ceased to be as much guarded and few artists at that time managed to present their work also abroad. The films of the Czechoslovak New Wave won several awards at major film festivals and Czechoslovakia reappeared on the map of the world. Film posters took place in international competitions and many artists have been featured in such prestigious magazines as Graphis or Gebrauchsgrafik. However occupation of Czechoslovakia by the associated states of the Warsaw Pact at the end of August 1968 made early end to all of this. Normalisation has prevented many artists from continuing to work, some have been forced to emigrate, and many names have disappeared from poster scene. How did the situation after August 68 reflected on your work?
Somewhere in Italy, 1968
[quote]“In 1966, we managed to travel to Italy and my husband fell in love with Italian countryside. After our return, he began to paint pictures inspired by this journey and by chance, the head of one of Dílo’s galleries (“Artwork” Gallery – which was the sales section of the Union of Fine Artists) who saw them in the studio persuaded my husband to put them on sale. Since all the works of art had to go through the committees consisting of artists with party and political commitment and approval, the matter was rather disgusting. Still, here and then they had been forced to approve some of his work, so he devoted himself much more to painting.”[/quote]
[quote]“The most important for Stanislav was that his paintings had a great response and many were sold. Directors of Dílo Galleries had to show revenue, so they were trying to commission husband’s paintings by personal agreement with agents, etc. The secretary of the Union of Fine Artists Dr. Lhota was also admirer of husband’s work and if there was any show cancellation and exhibition gallery became vacant, he literally sneaked my husband in within very short notice.”[/quote]
[quote]“Another one of his admirer was the poet Karel Sýs, a convinced communist, to whom my husband illustrated poems. Karel Sýs had a great literary interest in husband’s art and because he was the editor of Rudé Právo11, he enforced publishing. On one hand, we were spied on, because of our religious foreign ecumenical engagement and political dubiousness, on the other hand my husband had influential advocates who tried to make his work available to the public. It was all due to the fact that his paintings were irresistible for the large audience, art collectors and exhibitors had great success with them.”[/quote]
Dream, 1978
[quote]“Such a system was censoring all of the artistic activities, not only for graphic art and that was the biggest dirt (not to be called otherwise). The system allowed to distribute contracts among artists not by the quality of their work, but because of the political engagement. Simply said.”[/quote]
[quote]“From my own experience in 1986, when committee openly said to the architect and investor: Vajce does not get an approval stamp on her proposal, she had guzzled enough already, she will never get a bite again, literally in exactly same words. (I previously won an anonymous competition where members of the government committee and architects mistakenly assumed I was in the party, and because they liked my proposal the most, they overpowered the Union of Fine Artists (fiasco). This is just to illustrate the situation, I’m writing to you openly, as it was.”[/quote]
Night Stage, 1991
Stop!, 2001
Voice of the Forest, 2001
Rotation, 2011
It is clear that the main poster commissioner was ÚPF (Ústřední Půjčovna Filmů / Formal state distribution 1957-1991) with its own censoring committee that was deciding which posters could go into distribution. In article with Zdeněk Ziegler we read that some of the poster designers as Karel Vaca, or Dobroslav Foll were also part of such a committee.12 Could you describe a little how was approval process working and what were the selection criteria? Or were there any taboos that were not permitted to be shown?
[quote]“As I see it, the main criteria was money distribution.”[/quote]
It’s almost half of the century that you have not been designing film posters, nevertheless they still look very modern and impressive. How do you personally perceive them after such a long distance of time?
[quote]“In my opinion, they appear in such a way, because graphic art was always taking part in Stanislav’s versatile art besides of illustration, landscape painting, portrait, drawing, monumental painting, sculpture.”[/quote]
Meditation, 2001
Many thanks to Eva & Stanislav Vajce for sharing their precious time and knowledge with us.
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Examples of record sleeves designed by Stanislav Vajce:
Dvořák, Symphony No. 6 In D Major, Supraphon, 1966.
Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Violin Concerto, Supraphon, 1968.
Beethoven, String Quartet Opus No. 132, Supraphon, 1968.
Vítězslav Novák, Supraphon, 1967.
Collection of Czech and Slovak Modern Poetry I., Supraphon, 1967.
Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 3 In A Minor, Supraphon, 1988.
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Please see other fascinating posters designed by Stanislav Vajce.
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Resources:
Literature:
3. Milena Klasová: Stanislav Vajce / Galerie Klatovy, 2015 / published for Stanislav Vajce’s retrospective, also printed debut about artist
Collective authors: Czech film posters of 20th century / The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Exlibris Prague, 2004.
12. Flashback / Czech and Slovak Film Posters 1959-1989, ed. Libor Gronský, Marek Perůtka, Michal Soukup, Olomouc Museum of Art, 2004, p.34 (Welcome to hard times… by Zdeněk Ziegler)
Images of Stanislav Vajce’s artwork are property of the artist and are all copyrighted.
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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters, please read Take 1 / Take 2, or see artist’s INDEX for more blog posts.
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Book Illustration / Fine Art / Graphic Design / Typography
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Legacy of the Incas movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1967.
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b. 17th January 1929, Hostěradice (Prague-West), Czech Republic
Education:
1945 − 1949, State Graphic School, Prague (Richard Lander)
1949 − 1955, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague (Karel Svolinský)
Art Groups:
Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar / Sdružení českých umělců grafiků Hollar (1957)
May 57 / Máj 57 (1964)
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Remember the day when we were unfolding our first large size movie poster. There was quite an excitement about the whole thing. Firstly it was about the size of a poster. All of our movie posters were in A3 size until then and we were astonished by the remarkable change in dimensions. Almost three times larger in size, movie poster offered much clearer detail and we had impression that printing was handled with slightly extra care. For common reason as we had later found out, A1 posters were bit more representative, they were used occasionally for poster exhibitions. Our second astonishment was the visual content.
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Black Panther movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1966.
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Josef Duchoň’s lovingly puzzled collage for children’s adventurous movie set in the jungle (Black Mountain, 1972) was tenderly looking at us. What a joy! His movie posters have become one of our most favourite ever since. As we are describing the temperature, we could also mention, that we have very similar feelings towards Ever Alexander Půček‘s children’s posters.
Fascination of Josef Duchoň with children’s fantasy is in the right place and it was frequently reflected in his book illustrations. From 1959 he was co-working for the State publisher of children book as an illustrator. Early 1960s brought Josef Duchoň also to movie poster design. He created over two dozens of exceptionally impressive movie posters in period of almost 20 years1.
His work is extremely explosive, but not in a destructive way. On the other hand, Josef Duchoň is using the mixture of several artistic methods to reach viewer’s sensation. As a surreal artist his choice of collage technique is natural. Wonderful variation of live pastel colours achieved by the use of elegantly shaped and carefully placed woodcuts and his manipulation with objects is masterful. Thanks to monochrome cut outs and neat typography his movie posters are gaining quite significant depth and very vibrant character.
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The Birds the Bees and the Italians movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1967.
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Josef Duchoň started exhibiting as a member of Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar in mid 1950s2. (Important art group established in Prague, 1917.) Among 1613 Czech leading artists and graphic designers one can find other interesting poster artists such as Jiří Balcar, Adolf Born, Jan Kubíček, Jiří Šalamoun or Jaroslav Sůra to name few.
His first solo exhibition is dated to 1960. Liberal Czechoslovakia allowed Josef Duchoň to exhibit work also internationally. He took part in Biennale of Young Artists / Paris (France, 1963), Intergrafik / Berlin (Germany, 1965), Myth of the XXth Century / Coventry (UK, 1967) or in exhibition of Czech graphic artists in Oregon (USA, 1967). It seems that 1970s political changes stopped his exhibition activities for some time. There was no place for surreal, or any sort of abstraction in uniformed Czechoslovakia. However children’s publications were not censored, anything was possible in there and movie posters just very mildly4. Josef Duchoň remained faithful to a fantasy.
Please see other fascinating posters designed by the artist.
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Resources:
Literature:
1. Collective authors: Czech film posters of 20th century / The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Exlibris Prague, 2004. Josef Duchoň’s movie poster appears in year 1964 in their chronological catalogue. Our poster archive dates his movie poster activity up to 1981.
Online:
2.abArt / Josef Duchoň / Big thanks to abArt for their research on invisible.
Book Illustration / Caricature / Film Animation / Painting
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Jan Brychta’s poster design for movie adaptation of Karel Čapek’s novel, 1964.
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11th of May 1928, Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
14th of November 2013, London (?), United Kingdom
lived in London exile since 1968
Education:
State Graphic School, Prague (Zdeněk Balaš, Josef Vodrážka)
1945 – 19.., Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (Josef Kaplický, Antonín Pelc)
Exhibitions:
from late 1950s until 1968 mostly Prague exhibitions
Surrealism Unlimited 1968 – 1978, Camden Arts Centre, London 1978
Awards for Film Animation:
The main prize in the category of animated films, Oberhausen 1966
The prize of the union of cinema owners, Oberhausen 1966
Grand Prix “Bronze Caesar”, Tours 1966
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In 1968 Jan Brychta vanished off the face of the earth and that is the fact. Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 brought in many immediate changes within the state. Political trials were about to return back to fashion and not everyone was waiting for the resume. Or at least Jan Brychta did not.
It would be hard to say what made such a successful artist leave his homeland, as Jan Brychta’s art was everywhere and available to everyone in all possible forms. From beautifully illustrated books, film animations to caricatures in daily newspaper and television graphics / adverts. Simply put 1960s daily life was somehow incomplete without Jan Brychta.
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Five Minutes to Seven movie poster by Jan Brychta, 1965.
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It is fascinating to watch how with short step in time and history someone so publicly pleasing can become persona non grata. Researching many years later it really looks that party members did a great job. There was no Jan Brychta after 1968 in Czechoslovakia and same for his wife Lída Brychtová (artist and book illustrator) as they managed to escape the country together with their children Edita and Aleš.
Through out his Czechoslovak career as a daily caricaturist, film animator and pioneer of television graphics Jan Brychta was never far away from the movie poster. His rapid illustration and excellent story telling could be easily applied to the discipline. As a surreal artist and two dimensional painter use of a collage and illustration was a natural choice. His portfolio ends with his disappearance in late 1960s. Jan Brychta’s posters are absolute pleasure to look at and it is real pity it does not contain more than ten movie posters. The master of many techniques with only one common goal which was to keep everyone amused.
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Our Household, third volume of the annual guide for modern family illustrated by Jan Brychta, 1963.
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British audience could recognise Jan Brychta’s illustration thanks to BBC children’s television series Jackanory.
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Television graphics by Jan Brychta, Adolf Born and other pioneers of 1960s TV visuals.
Krátky Film, Praha / Short Film, Prague. Archive of Jan Brychta’s 1960s animated films.
Images used:
Collective authors: Záznamník – Naše Domácnost 3 / Family Guide Jotter – Our Household Vol.3. Obchodní Tiskárny, Praha, 1963. Cover and inner pages of the book.
Film a Doba 1 / Film and Times 1 / Bratislava City Gallery, 1965. Magazine spread out.
Art Editor / Book Illustration / Graphic Art / Typography
Book cover design, colour letterpress, Robert Brož, 1970 *
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– b. 10th of August 1939, Prague-Čelákovice, Czech Republic
Education:
– 1954−1958, School of Industrial Art, Bratislava
Exhibitions:
– Biennale Brno 1966, 1970 and later
– Bratislava, Prague, Sofia, 1968
– BIB, Biennale of Book Illustration, Bratislava 1969, 1971 and later
– IBA Leipzig, 1971
– Biennale Warsaw 1971, 1975
– Barcelona, Berlin 1973
Awards:
– Diploma, International exhibition of young poster designers, Sofia, 1968
– Merit Award, IBA Leipzig, 1971
– Merit Award, The most beautiful book of the Year, Bratislava, 1972 and 1977
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Excellent typography – Pilgrimage to San Jago, Robert Brož, 1973.
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Robert Brož’s appearance in Czechoslovak film poster archive is rather rarity, even though designing posters was one of his main profession. As a typographer and graphic designer he has created numerous number of book covers (Bronze Medal, IBA Lepzig, 1971), posters and specialised in creating ex libris for collectors. He was also editor and graphic designer of Slovak publishing house Osveta.
We only know of one single film poster Robert Brož has ever designed. It was created for children’s tale Pilgrimage to San Jago (unofficial title) and done very much in what you would call Brussel style. Common design resonating pretty much in everything made in late Sixties Czechoslovakia (precious times swept away by shady 1970’s propaganda).
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Bratislava City Gallery / Galéria Mesta Bratislavy, logo design, Robert Brož, 1971.**
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Finding out Robert Brož’s name on majority of books published for Slovak photographer Martin Martinček made us nicely surprised. Martin Martinček’s photography is hugely admired by us and we thought you might like to see more examples of Robert Brož’s design. As he was not exactly movie poster designer, we still believe in his importance in Czechoslovak graphic art and are adding his name to our Sixties designers list.
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Martin Martinček / Cradle – photography book cover, Robert Brož, 1972.***
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We will be coming back to Martin Martinček in later individual posts on photography, where we’ll try to show a glimpse of his excellent work and maybe we’ll even reveal some of his unseen prints from our collection of photographs.
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Martin Martinček / Highlanders – photography book design, Robert Brož, 1975.****
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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.
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Resources:
Literature:
II. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno ’66, Medzinárodní Výstava Knižní Grafiky a Ilustrace, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 2nd Biennale of Graphic Design Brno ’66, The International Exhibition of Book Graphics and Illustrations, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1966
IV. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1970, Medzinárodní Přehlídka Plakátu a Propagační Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 4th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1970, The International Exhibition of Poster and Promotional Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1970
V. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1972, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 5th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1972, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1972
VII. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1976, Mezinárodní výstava ilustrace a knižní grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 7th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1976, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1976
IX. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1980, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 9th Biennale of Graphic Design 1980, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1980
* Collective authors: Stretnutie / Meetings, Martin 1970. Book cover, colour letterpress. V. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1972, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 5th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1972, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1972 (p.55)
** logo – Martin Martinček – Exhibition Catalogue, Hora a horské bystriny / Mountain and mountain stream (unofficial translation). Galéria Mesta Bratislavy / Bratislava City Gallery, 1971
*** book cover – Martin Martinček – Milan Rúfus, Kolíska / Cradle (unofficial translation). Osveta, Banská Bystrica, 1972.
**** book cover, book design – Martin Martinček, Vrchári / Highlanders (unofficial translation). Osveta, Martin, 1975
***
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It is fairly interesting when thinking of Rudolf Altrichter’s designs for film posters, that behind all this visual trickery is hidden self-taught artist. Originally trained as a sales man (worked also for Bata / shoemaker company) he became one of the most influential Slovak graphic artist. In his thirties he became one of the establishing members of newly reopen Slovak Art Society (1946) and year later co-founder of Association of Slovak Graphic Artists (1947).
Rudolf Altrichter’s film posters are full of visual harmony, unusually blended by pure abstraction and the hints of reality. Human element appears to be one of his strongest standing point, no matter if it is design for art exhibition, film or political poster. Visual harmony is also represented by the use of elegant thin lines and curvy almost psychedelic shapes. Absurdity of the war, another of his characteristic motifs, can be also seen on several of his film posters. Film poster designed for French drama Dangerous Love Affairs / Dangerous Liaisons (shown bellow, designed in 1969), belongs to the selection of the most significant acquisitions of the Poster and Graphic Design Collection of Slovak National Gallery.
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Dangerous Love Affairs movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
Talking Caftan movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
Traces on the Sitno movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1968.
What a Lovely War movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1969.
The Upthrown Stone movie poster by Rudolf Altrichter, 1970.
Girl from the Mountains movie poster by Altrichter, 1972.
We have prepared another Poster Sale to make our film poster collection accessible to anyone as passionate about the art from Czechoslovakia as we are. Please take advantage of our Poster Sales to get your hands on some of the best designs in the history of poster art. Enter the coupon –
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– into a coupon field when checking out. Sale will run until 7.11.2015. Enjoy!
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1982 – Grand Prix for portrait work, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1984 – Prize of the Ministry of Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina for portrait work at International Biennial of Portrait, Tuzla
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Happiness movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1966.
Barefoot in the Park movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1967.
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[quote]“Stanislav Vajce’s art of painting – if by this we mean the art of masterfully guiding the brush – resolutely rejects the academic approach to painting and replaces it with a sensitive and sweeping painting style.”4 [/quote]
It’s almost tradition that many Czechoslovak poster designers were involved in painting or had some sort of fine art study background. 1950s were accumulating incredible potential and vitality among artists, but political climate of totalitarianism was breeding machine-like art and did not allow any personal burst out.5 In mid 50s Stalinist era was slowly ceasing to extinction and for the following decade Czechoslovakia was witnessing quite surprising changes. Many artists were meeting up in newly created art groups or were allowed solo exhibitions. However, political apparatus was still in charge as the movie poster commissioner had a good number of contemporary artists circulating on their list.
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I Was Nineteen movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1968.
Tanta Zita movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1968.
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Pure fascination awaits for those who choose to observe movie posters of Stanislav Vajce closely. His inspiration seems endless and same goes to his ability to work with such an infinity. Stanislav Vajce’s devotion to art matter started fairly early in his age. As a 15 year old boy, he traveled daily to Klatovy in order to apprentice as a sign-painter and gilder.6 This affection remained with him ever since; in his future art, as well as he was frequently using gold and hand typing in his poster work.
•••
Elvira Madigan movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1969.
Fathom movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1969.
[quote]“Vajce is also in habit of listening to music while painting when he is alone in his studio. ”7 [/quote]
Watch out for Susie! movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
Pierre and Paul movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
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Stanislav Vajce’s movie posters are real joy to look at, he blends many different techniques that are meeting in very amusing results. There is no limitation to his designing approach. He likes to play with the surface and texture, mixing montage, collage and obviously the brush stroke. The use of every day objects and body parts are repeatedly reoccurring. His use of eye cutouts is almost as striking as the famous scene’s from Luis Buñuel’s and Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou, eye element keeps returning in several of his posters. Stanislav Vajce’s poster designs are only a step away from his paintings, but unlike in his fascinating assemblages, he likes to employ that cinematic touch in his posters and that is the use of the photograph. Breaking boundaries (in design) seems the most natural to him. His movie posters are pure visual poetry with certain tenderness and delicacy.
•••
The Nice Bourgeois Guy movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1970.
Twelve chairs movie posters by Stanislav Vajce, 1971.
The Lawyer movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1971.
Troubleshooters movie poster by Stanislav Vajce, 1972.
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Between 1964 − 1972 Stanislav Vajce designed 24 movie posters. He emigrated together with his family to West Germany in 1987 where they live ever since.
•••
Interview with Stanislav Vajce’s wife Eva:
We felt very privileged and lucky at the same time when we’ve heard from Stanislav Vajce’s daughter in law Kirsten. We are willing to make an interview with exile poster artist for so long and are constantly trying to find those “channels”, but we were never as close. It did not take long and we were granted with the reply from Stanislav’s wife Eva Vajce89 . We were very happy to find out that she would try to answer some of our questions. Unfortunately Stanislav Vajce’s health does not allow him to participate in this interview. Several questions regarding actual poster designing processes had to be deleted, but we believe Mrs. Eva’s fascinating replies are telling more than we could ever ask for.
[quote]“At the beginning I have to let you know that my husband is seriously ill and unfortunately he will not be able to give answers to your questions. In regards to your effort in trying to approach Stanislav, I would love to try to answer some of them, at least briefly, according to my knowledge.”[/quote]
Angel Messenger, 1991
Smile, 1991
Gentle Girl, 1991
Coquette, 1991
We’ve learned that after your studies at Secondary School of Applied Arts in Uherské Hradiště (1954 – 58) you graduated from Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1959 – 63). What were the possibilities for a young graduate of the art school in the mid 1960s in the totalitarian state, in embrace of Communist propaganda and social realism?
[quote]“My husband studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague a monumental painting under the supervision of professor Fišárek. Since he was not in the Communist Party, he did not expect to be able to live of painting, or to get any sort of architectural commissions and began to devote himself to book graphics. He discovered the art of gramophone record covers was not efficient enough. Record company Artia10 had business success around the world with top-class recordings of classical music, but had sales difficulties due to the appearance of the product. Records with his packaging were the attraction for foreign buyers. Along with that, he started to design posters, illustrations, etc.”[/quote]
Harlequin, 1989
Behind the Curtain, 1988-89
I Had a Dream, 1994
Antique Landscape, 1999
Between 1964 – 1972 you’ve been working on movie posters, similarly as many other contemporary artists. Why was the poster making so popular among artists and what brought you to designing?
[quote]“Poster designs were relatively well paid at that time, thus quite a fight/competition among the graphic artists, it was simply a question of existence. Otherwise, my husband did not belong to these typical “graphic artists”, which is why, as I suppose, he was not represented on poster exhibitions, even though the quality of his work deserved it. On the contrary he did not care about the appreciation, it was indifferent and unfamiliar to him. The commissions for the posters were coming from Mrs. XX, I do not remember her name anymore, because Stanislav was sympathetic and did not ask for any. There was the so-called art committee made out of artists such as Vaca, etc., similarly as with all art commissions. The members of such a committee were nominated by the Union of Fine Artists and they were politically engaged to the party, in many times it did not matter how good their art was. The most of the contracts were distributed among themselves. If Stanislav occasionally passed, it was always because of the high quality of his artwork, he was always aside of art groups or unions. Graphic artists were holding together quite strongly. Perhaps, in my opinion, they had complex from “painters”.[/quote]
Metamorphosis, 1990
An Evening Alone, 1982
1960s have brought considerable liberalisation to countries such as Czechoslovakia. Changes have been evident in literature, film and art as such. State borders ceased to be as much guarded and few artists at that time managed to present their work also abroad. The films of the Czechoslovak New Wave won several awards at major film festivals and Czechoslovakia reappeared on the map of the world. Film posters took place in international competitions and many artists have been featured in such prestigious magazines as Graphis or Gebrauchsgrafik. However occupation of Czechoslovakia by the associated states of the Warsaw Pact at the end of August 1968 made early end to all of this. Normalisation has prevented many artists from continuing to work, some have been forced to emigrate, and many names have disappeared from poster scene. How did the situation after August 68 reflected on your work?
Somewhere in Italy, 1968
[quote]“In 1966, we managed to travel to Italy and my husband fell in love with Italian countryside. After our return, he began to paint pictures inspired by this journey and by chance, the head of one of Dílo’s galleries (“Artwork” Gallery – which was the sales section of the Union of Fine Artists) who saw them in the studio persuaded my husband to put them on sale. Since all the works of art had to go through the committees consisting of artists with party and political commitment and approval, the matter was rather disgusting. Still, here and then they had been forced to approve some of his work, so he devoted himself much more to painting.”[/quote]
[quote]“The most important for Stanislav was that his paintings had a great response and many were sold. Directors of Dílo Galleries had to show revenue, so they were trying to commission husband’s paintings by personal agreement with agents, etc. The secretary of the Union of Fine Artists Dr. Lhota was also admirer of husband’s work and if there was any show cancellation and exhibition gallery became vacant, he literally sneaked my husband in within very short notice.”[/quote]
[quote]“Another one of his admirer was the poet Karel Sýs, a convinced communist, to whom my husband illustrated poems. Karel Sýs had a great literary interest in husband’s art and because he was the editor of Rudé Právo11, he enforced publishing. On one hand, we were spied on, because of our religious foreign ecumenical engagement and political dubiousness, on the other hand my husband had influential advocates who tried to make his work available to the public. It was all due to the fact that his paintings were irresistible for the large audience, art collectors and exhibitors had great success with them.”[/quote]
Dream, 1978
[quote]“Such a system was censoring all of the artistic activities, not only for graphic art and that was the biggest dirt (not to be called otherwise). The system allowed to distribute contracts among artists not by the quality of their work, but because of the political engagement. Simply said.”[/quote]
[quote]“From my own experience in 1986, when committee openly said to the architect and investor: Vajce does not get an approval stamp on her proposal, she had guzzled enough already, she will never get a bite again, literally in exactly same words. (I previously won an anonymous competition where members of the government committee and architects mistakenly assumed I was in the party, and because they liked my proposal the most, they overpowered the Union of Fine Artists (fiasco). This is just to illustrate the situation, I’m writing to you openly, as it was.”[/quote]
Night Stage, 1991
Stop!, 2001
Voice of the Forest, 2001
Rotation, 2011
It is clear that the main poster commissioner was ÚPF (Ústřední Půjčovna Filmů / Formal state distribution 1957-1991) with its own censoring committee that was deciding which posters could go into distribution. In article with Zdeněk Ziegler we read that some of the poster designers as Karel Vaca, or Dobroslav Foll were also part of such a committee.12 Could you describe a little how was approval process working and what were the selection criteria? Or were there any taboos that were not permitted to be shown?
[quote]“As I see it, the main criteria was money distribution.”[/quote]
It’s almost half of the century that you have not been designing film posters, nevertheless they still look very modern and impressive. How do you personally perceive them after such a long distance of time?
[quote]“In my opinion, they appear in such a way, because graphic art was always taking part in Stanislav’s versatile art besides of illustration, landscape painting, portrait, drawing, monumental painting, sculpture.”[/quote]
Meditation, 2001
Many thanks to Eva & Stanislav Vajce for sharing their precious time and knowledge with us.
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Examples of record sleeves designed by Stanislav Vajce:
Dvořák, Symphony No. 6 In D Major, Supraphon, 1966.
Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Violin Concerto, Supraphon, 1968.
Beethoven, String Quartet Opus No. 132, Supraphon, 1968.
Vítězslav Novák, Supraphon, 1967.
Collection of Czech and Slovak Modern Poetry I., Supraphon, 1967.
Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 3 In A Minor, Supraphon, 1988.
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Please see other fascinating posters designed by Stanislav Vajce.
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Resources:
Literature:
3. Milena Klasová: Stanislav Vajce / Galerie Klatovy, 2015 / published for Stanislav Vajce’s retrospective, also printed debut about artist
Collective authors: Czech film posters of 20th century / The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Exlibris Prague, 2004.
12. Flashback / Czech and Slovak Film Posters 1959-1989, ed. Libor Gronský, Marek Perůtka, Michal Soukup, Olomouc Museum of Art, 2004, p.34 (Welcome to hard times… by Zdeněk Ziegler)
Images of Stanislav Vajce’s artwork are property of the artist and are all copyrighted.
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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters, please read Take 1 / Take 2, or see artist’s INDEX for more blog posts.
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Book Illustration / Fine Art / Graphic Design / Typography
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Legacy of the Incas movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1967.
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b. 17th January 1929, Hostěradice (Prague-West), Czech Republic
Education:
1945 − 1949, State Graphic School, Prague (Richard Lander)
1949 − 1955, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, Prague (Karel Svolinský)
Art Groups:
Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar / Sdružení českých umělců grafiků Hollar (1957)
May 57 / Máj 57 (1964)
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Remember the day when we were unfolding our first large size movie poster. There was quite an excitement about the whole thing. Firstly it was about the size of a poster. All of our movie posters were in A3 size until then and we were astonished by the remarkable change in dimensions. Almost three times larger in size, movie poster offered much clearer detail and we had impression that printing was handled with slightly extra care. For common reason as we had later found out, A1 posters were bit more representative, they were used occasionally for poster exhibitions. Our second astonishment was the visual content.
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Black Panther movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1966.
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Josef Duchoň’s lovingly puzzled collage for children’s adventurous movie set in the jungle (Black Mountain, 1972) was tenderly looking at us. What a joy! His movie posters have become one of our most favourite ever since. As we are describing the temperature, we could also mention, that we have very similar feelings towards Ever Alexander Půček‘s children’s posters.
Fascination of Josef Duchoň with children’s fantasy is in the right place and it was frequently reflected in his book illustrations. From 1959 he was co-working for the State publisher of children book as an illustrator. Early 1960s brought Josef Duchoň also to movie poster design. He created over two dozens of exceptionally impressive movie posters in period of almost 20 years1.
His work is extremely explosive, but not in a destructive way. On the other hand, Josef Duchoň is using the mixture of several artistic methods to reach viewer’s sensation. As a surreal artist his choice of collage technique is natural. Wonderful variation of live pastel colours achieved by the use of elegantly shaped and carefully placed woodcuts and his manipulation with objects is masterful. Thanks to monochrome cut outs and neat typography his movie posters are gaining quite significant depth and very vibrant character.
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The Birds the Bees and the Italians movie poster by Josef Duchoň, 1967.
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Josef Duchoň started exhibiting as a member of Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar in mid 1950s2. (Important art group established in Prague, 1917.) Among 1613 Czech leading artists and graphic designers one can find other interesting poster artists such as Jiří Balcar, Adolf Born, Jan Kubíček, Jiří Šalamoun or Jaroslav Sůra to name few.
His first solo exhibition is dated to 1960. Liberal Czechoslovakia allowed Josef Duchoň to exhibit work also internationally. He took part in Biennale of Young Artists / Paris (France, 1963), Intergrafik / Berlin (Germany, 1965), Myth of the XXth Century / Coventry (UK, 1967) or in exhibition of Czech graphic artists in Oregon (USA, 1967). It seems that 1970s political changes stopped his exhibition activities for some time. There was no place for surreal, or any sort of abstraction in uniformed Czechoslovakia. However children’s publications were not censored, anything was possible in there and movie posters just very mildly4. Josef Duchoň remained faithful to a fantasy.
Please see other fascinating posters designed by the artist.
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Resources:
Literature:
1. Collective authors: Czech film posters of 20th century / The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Exlibris Prague, 2004. Josef Duchoň’s movie poster appears in year 1964 in their chronological catalogue. Our poster archive dates his movie poster activity up to 1981.
Online:
2.abArt / Josef Duchoň / Big thanks to abArt for their research on invisible.
Book Illustration / Caricature / Film Animation / Painting
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Jan Brychta’s poster design for movie adaptation of Karel Čapek’s novel, 1964.
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11th of May 1928, Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic
14th of November 2013, London (?), United Kingdom
lived in London exile since 1968
Education:
State Graphic School, Prague (Zdeněk Balaš, Josef Vodrážka)
1945 – 19.., Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (Josef Kaplický, Antonín Pelc)
Exhibitions:
from late 1950s until 1968 mostly Prague exhibitions
Surrealism Unlimited 1968 – 1978, Camden Arts Centre, London 1978
Awards for Film Animation:
The main prize in the category of animated films, Oberhausen 1966
The prize of the union of cinema owners, Oberhausen 1966
Grand Prix “Bronze Caesar”, Tours 1966
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In 1968 Jan Brychta vanished off the face of the earth and that is the fact. Russian occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 brought in many immediate changes within the state. Political trials were about to return back to fashion and not everyone was waiting for the resume. Or at least Jan Brychta did not.
It would be hard to say what made such a successful artist leave his homeland, as Jan Brychta’s art was everywhere and available to everyone in all possible forms. From beautifully illustrated books, film animations to caricatures in daily newspaper and television graphics / adverts. Simply put 1960s daily life was somehow incomplete without Jan Brychta.
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Five Minutes to Seven movie poster by Jan Brychta, 1965.
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It is fascinating to watch how with short step in time and history someone so publicly pleasing can become persona non grata. Researching many years later it really looks that party members did a great job. There was no Jan Brychta after 1968 in Czechoslovakia and same for his wife Lída Brychtová (artist and book illustrator) as they managed to escape the country together with their children Edita and Aleš.
Through out his Czechoslovak career as a daily caricaturist, film animator and pioneer of television graphics Jan Brychta was never far away from the movie poster. His rapid illustration and excellent story telling could be easily applied to the discipline. As a surreal artist and two dimensional painter use of a collage and illustration was a natural choice. His portfolio ends with his disappearance in late 1960s. Jan Brychta’s posters are absolute pleasure to look at and it is real pity it does not contain more than ten movie posters. The master of many techniques with only one common goal which was to keep everyone amused.
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Our Household, third volume of the annual guide for modern family illustrated by Jan Brychta, 1963.
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British audience could recognise Jan Brychta’s illustration thanks to BBC children’s television series Jackanory.
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Television graphics by Jan Brychta, Adolf Born and other pioneers of 1960s TV visuals.
Krátky Film, Praha / Short Film, Prague. Archive of Jan Brychta’s 1960s animated films.
Images used:
Collective authors: Záznamník – Naše Domácnost 3 / Family Guide Jotter – Our Household Vol.3. Obchodní Tiskárny, Praha, 1963. Cover and inner pages of the book.
Film a Doba 1 / Film and Times 1 / Bratislava City Gallery, 1965. Magazine spread out.
Art Editor / Book Illustration / Graphic Art / Typography
Book cover design, colour letterpress, Robert Brož, 1970 *
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– b. 10th of August 1939, Prague-Čelákovice, Czech Republic
Education:
– 1954−1958, School of Industrial Art, Bratislava
Exhibitions:
– Biennale Brno 1966, 1970 and later
– Bratislava, Prague, Sofia, 1968
– BIB, Biennale of Book Illustration, Bratislava 1969, 1971 and later
– IBA Leipzig, 1971
– Biennale Warsaw 1971, 1975
– Barcelona, Berlin 1973
Awards:
– Diploma, International exhibition of young poster designers, Sofia, 1968
– Merit Award, IBA Leipzig, 1971
– Merit Award, The most beautiful book of the Year, Bratislava, 1972 and 1977
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Excellent typography – Pilgrimage to San Jago, Robert Brož, 1973.
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Robert Brož’s appearance in Czechoslovak film poster archive is rather rarity, even though designing posters was one of his main profession. As a typographer and graphic designer he has created numerous number of book covers (Bronze Medal, IBA Lepzig, 1971), posters and specialised in creating ex libris for collectors. He was also editor and graphic designer of Slovak publishing house Osveta.
We only know of one single film poster Robert Brož has ever designed. It was created for children’s tale Pilgrimage to San Jago (unofficial title) and done very much in what you would call Brussel style. Common design resonating pretty much in everything made in late Sixties Czechoslovakia (precious times swept away by shady 1970’s propaganda).
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Bratislava City Gallery / Galéria Mesta Bratislavy, logo design, Robert Brož, 1971.**
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Finding out Robert Brož’s name on majority of books published for Slovak photographer Martin Martinček made us nicely surprised. Martin Martinček’s photography is hugely admired by us and we thought you might like to see more examples of Robert Brož’s design. As he was not exactly movie poster designer, we still believe in his importance in Czechoslovak graphic art and are adding his name to our Sixties designers list.
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Martin Martinček / Cradle – photography book cover, Robert Brož, 1972.***
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We will be coming back to Martin Martinček in later individual posts on photography, where we’ll try to show a glimpse of his excellent work and maybe we’ll even reveal some of his unseen prints from our collection of photographs.
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Martin Martinček / Highlanders – photography book design, Robert Brož, 1975.****
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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.
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Resources:
Literature:
II. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno ’66, Medzinárodní Výstava Knižní Grafiky a Ilustrace, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 2nd Biennale of Graphic Design Brno ’66, The International Exhibition of Book Graphics and Illustrations, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1966
IV. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1970, Medzinárodní Přehlídka Plakátu a Propagační Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 4th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1970, The International Exhibition of Poster and Promotional Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1970
V. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1972, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 5th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1972, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1972
VII. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1976, Mezinárodní výstava ilustrace a knižní grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 7th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1976, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1976
IX. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1980, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 9th Biennale of Graphic Design 1980, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1980
* Collective authors: Stretnutie / Meetings, Martin 1970. Book cover, colour letterpress. V. Bienále Užité Grafiky Brno 1972, Medzinárodní Výstava Ilustrace a Knižní Grafiky, Moravská Galerie v Brně. / 5th Biennale of Graphic Design Brno 1972, The International Exhibition of Illustrations and Book Graphics, Moravian Gallery Brno, 1972 (p.55)
** logo – Martin Martinček – Exhibition Catalogue, Hora a horské bystriny / Mountain and mountain stream (unofficial translation). Galéria Mesta Bratislavy / Bratislava City Gallery, 1971
*** book cover – Martin Martinček – Milan Rúfus, Kolíska / Cradle (unofficial translation). Osveta, Banská Bystrica, 1972.
**** book cover, book design – Martin Martinček, Vrchári / Highlanders (unofficial translation). Osveta, Martin, 1975
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