Poster Designs / Sixties – Josef Duchoň. The Story of Film Posters.

ByjozefSquare

Film posters in history. Sixties poster designs.

Poster Designer / Josef Duchoň

Book Illustration / Fine Art / Graphic Design / Typography

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Movie Poster, Legacy of the Incas, 1960s Poster Art
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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Movie Poster, Black Panther, 60s Vintage Poster
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, 1960s Movie Poster
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.

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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.

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.
  • 3. cs.Wikipedia.org / Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar
  • Prostor / Extensive list of artist’s exhibitions.
  • 4. Read more about censorship in our article about anonymous artists.

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Poster Designs / Sixties – Stanislav Duda. The Story of Film Posters.

ByjozefSquare Poster Designer | INdEX

Film posters in history. Sixties poster designs.

Poster Designer / Stanislav Duda

Animation / Applied Arts / Book Illustration / Graphic Art

 

1960s Vintage Movie Poster, Among Us Thieves
Movie poster Among Us Thieves / Stanislav Duda, 1963

 

  • b. 2nd July 1921, Ostrava, Czech Republic 1
  • 2008, Czech Republic

Education:

  • 1941 – 1947, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (Antonín Strnadel)

Art groups:

Exhibitions (selected):

  • 1954 – 1958 Group exhibitions, Bilance
  • 1956 – Exhibitions of Graphic Artists from Czechoslovakia. Poznan, Moscow, Warszaw 3
  • 1958 – EXPO. Brussels, Belgium
  • 1965 – Plakate aus der Tschechoslowakei. Munich, West Germany 4
  • 1959 – 1969 Ontario, Wien, Hamburg, Karlovy Vary, Bochum, Koln, Tolentino, London
  • 1967 – Contemporary Czechoslovak Poster. Olomouc, Czech Republic
  • 1964/1970/1972/1976/1980 – Brno Biennials, Czech Republic

Awards (selected):

  • 1964 − Applied Arts Prize. 1st Biennials of Czechoslovak Poster and Applied Arts. Brno, Czech Republic
  • 1968 – Prize for Installation. XVI. Triennale, Milano, Italy 5
  • 1985 – Jiří Trnka Prize for animation Omalovánky / Colouring Books. Czech Republic
  • 1986 − 1st Prize for animation. Chicago Film Festival, USA

Awarded posters:

 

Stanislav Duda's Movie posters
Harold Lloyd in His Best Comedies, 1963 / The King of Kings, 1963. Exhibition catalogue excerpt, Munich, 1965.

 

Welcome to the humorous world of Stanislav Duda, possibly one of the longest lasting poster designer Czechoslovakia had on offer. His poster activities are dating to late 40s, where he gained several awards for his commercial poster designs. 7  Stanislav Duda begins to work professionally right after his graduation as graphic designer in Centrotex company (import / export of mostly textile products) where he stayed until 1953. From then onwards he works on his own as freelancer. He takes part in several group exhibitions representing graphic art from Czechoslovakia and also participates on International Exposition in Brussels (EXPO 58), where Czechoslovakia won prize for the best pavilion.

 

By the beginning of 1960s when Stanislav Duda started designing movie posters he was already well established graphic artist. Not sure if it was just by mere coincidence or because of his personal character, but it seems that majority of his 1960s movie posters were designed mostly for grotesque comedy (most of the posters shown in the article). Parallel to his illustrated caricatures that could be seen in several popular periodicals or art magazines, one can suggest that circumstances were working in his favour.

 

When Comedy Was King Movie Poster
When Comedy Was King / Stanislav Duda, 1965. Brno Biennials catalogue excerpt, 1970.

 

It is interesting to observe artist’s development through out his career. Stanislav Duda remained faithful to drawing all the way to mid 1980s. Apart of occasional use of very simple collage (Bewitched Love, 1969 (bellow) / Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, 1985) or his phenomenal movie poster for Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night (great example of his graphical abilities) he was focused mainly on illustration and experimented a lot with fonts and colour. Eventually he also takes control over typography and masters everything in very unique almost childish quality of naive artist as can be seen in his later poster designs.

 

60s poster, Bewitched love, Excellent movie poster
Movie poster Bewitched Love / Stanislav Duda, 1969.

 

Stanislav Duda was author of several animated films and illustrated a good number of books for both children and adults. His work brought him a world recognition in pretty much everything he has touched. He has designed around thirty movie posters all with genuine signature and obtained some important movie poster awards.

Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.

Many other magnificent posters by Stanislav Duda can be observed in our movie poster archive.

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The Haunted Castle, Award Winning Movie Poster,
The Haunted Castle movie poster designed by Stanislav Duda, 1961.

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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
  • 3.5. 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 (p.41)
  • 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
  • 6.Současná světová grafika, Deset brněnských bienále / The World Graphic Design at the Ten Brno Biennials, Jiří Hlušička. Odeon, Praha, 1985 (p.272)
  • 7. 1948, 1949, 1955 – 1st, 2nd & 3rd Prize for commercial poster design. 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 (p.41)
  • 4. Exhibition Catalogue: Plakate aus der Tschechoslowakei / Posters from the Czechoslovakia. Münchner Stadstmuseum, Munich, West Germany, 16.2 − 20.3. 1965. Texts: Alena Adlerová & Johanna von Herzogenberg.

Online:

  • 1. abArt / Stanislav Duda / Most of the biographical details are coming from AbArt’s archive unless otherwise referred.
  • 2.  AbArt  / Group of Artists and Graphic Designers established in Prague between 1957 − 1968. Main activities were exhibitions of group members in Czechoslovakia and abroad.
  • Article about exhibition Plakate aus der Tschechoslowakei / Posters from the Czechoslovakia, Munich, West Germany (1965) was printed in Gebrauchsgraphik Magazine, January/1965 and is available thanks to International Advertising & Design DataBase (pages 46-60).
  • Centrotex / cs.wikipedia.org

Images used:

  • Harold Lloyd in His Best Comedies, 1963 / The King of Kings, 1963. Exhibition Catalogue: Plakate aus der Tschechoslowakei / Posters from the Czechoslovakia. Münchner Stadstmuseum, Munich, West Germany, 16.2 − 20.3. 1965. Texts: Alena Adlerová & Johanna von Herzogenberg
  • When Comedy Was King / Stanislav Duda, 1965.Exhibition Catalogue: 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 (p. 145)

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Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters. Take 1.

ByjozefSquare Film Poster in History

Film posters in history. Poster story in few takes.

The 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut, 50s Movie Poster
The 400 Blows / Francois Truffaut, movie poster by Josef Hvozdenský, 1959.

EXPO 58 – Brussels and travelling

It was not likely until 1958 EXPO show in Brussels when Czechoslovakia suddenly reappeared in the world wide art discussion. Overleaping thickness of Communist propaganda was overshadowing the cultural existence not only for another side of the Iron curtain. No wonder, as Stanislav Kolibal, one of the most refined Czech artist / sculptor recollects in his interview for Czech radio broadcast:

[quote]”Travelling before 1957 was just not happening.”[/quote]

It was not happening after that either, but things were a bit smoother and significantly moving towards lots of explorations.

• typical early example of the “Noodle” shaped film poster, returning as an idea back in 60s without any further success.

• film posters following old poster traditions.

• 50s film posters came very rarely with the signature.

Early days of film posters.

Unhealthy political regime in Czechoslovakia had very strong impact on cultural distribution within the country. Country was perfectly sealed off. Presence of cold war was also effecting the possibilities of any official cultural exchange. Art making was going through all kinds of metamorphosis, but in reality it only had one face. That face was called Social Realism and it had very clear, strong and long lasting statement. Visual disillusion would chase one everywhere. And if a little flag was’t displayed on the window seal on the 1st of May, one would be chased by someone else, too. Simply put; politicians were using art for their own propaganda and there was no way around it. Or maybe there was?

• fascinating starts from the “old school” representatives. Many artists were trying to cover the new medium. By the end of 50s poster still did not have that film look.

Film poster in Czechoslovakia was also going through many changes before it meets the doors of collectors and film festivals. All sorts of artists were trying out to fit the new medium, but it was not until early sixties when fresh new ideologies were presented in both films and similarly in film posters design. Poster designers had it very hard to make pleasing posters for bad propaganda or WWI-II films at the beginning. Significance of EXPO 58 and sudden interest of politicians in foreign currency from the fresh source1 turned a blind eye on art scene ever since. Censorship however remains necessity.

• Adolf Born is getting involved in poster making.

• another famous Czech sci-fi books illustrator Teodor Rotrekl designs several film posters.

Censors in form of critics were very much responsible for the public picture. That could never lack enough sympathy for the comrades from the Soviet union / countries of Warszaw pact and on the other hand it had to be critical enough towards anything coming out from the west.
In visual art weird symbols of the era were the most preferable. Motifs of smiling women standing behind the factory machine pretending they do enjoy the heavy work and at the same time they are equally helping in cultivating the nation. This and similar images, everyone possibly came across when they say Communism, were implied in every possible media and censors had to make sure there was enough of it visible.

• playful illustrations and collages of Jan Kubíček were accompanying Czechoslovak film poster all the way to seventies.

• photograph stretches all across the poster.

Thankfully not all of the art disciplines were destined for an extinction. Illustration, animated films as well as film posters remained intact with only few slight obstacles.2 By the beginning of 1960s several renown artists, graphic designers and illustrators such as Bedřich Dlouhý, Miloš Reindl, Richard Fremund, Zdeněk Palcr, Karel Teissig, Jaroslav Fišer were shaping up the future visuals of film posters. When award winning poster and graphic designer Zdeněk Ziegler meets the official film posters committee for the first time, he remembers his feelings were strongly in favour of his critics.

[quote]”There were always two or three graphic designers among commissioners who would defend fellow colleague. It was Karel Vaca and Dobroslav Foll in my case.” 3[/quote]

Film posters came along with catalogue, The 400 Blows
The 400 Blows / Francois Truffaut – Promotional film catalogue
The 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut, Catalogue for Film
The 400 Blows / Francois Truffaut, Catalogue view opposite side.

With increasing attendance at the international film festivals, film poster was also heading towards new directions. International success of movies created by Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, Jiří Menzel and other important directors of Czechoslovak New Wave, introduced Czechoslovak poster design to the foreign audience. Film posters designed in 1960s were created by some of the best poster designers of the era and we will be exploring them in more details in our next post.

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1. Enough currency was floating in the country. Czechoslovakia was one of the greatest business partners with the death at the time. Military industry was among the most popular and export was doing just fine. / 150 000 Slov – former exile magazine, X/91/27, p.3-5, Morálka musí počkat (Morale must wait), Inge Santnerová.
2. Vratislav Hlavatý for the Czech Radio Interview / 29.3.2013 (Several of his publications were banned throughout Communism).
3. Zdeněk Ziegler for the Czech Radio Interview / 15.5.2013.

Additional research:

Literature:

  • Flashback / Czech and Slovak Film Posters 1959-1989, ed. Libor Gronský, Marek Perůtka, Michal Soukup,  Olomouc Museum of Art, 2004.

Online web:

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Poster Designs / Sixties – Bedřich Dlouhý. The Story of Film Posters.

ByjozefSquare Poster Designer | INdEX

Film posters in history. Sixties poster designs.

Poster Designer / Bedřich Dlouhý

Fine Art / Graphic Design / Typography

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Hiroshima Mon Amour poster, Vintage Movie Poster
Hiroshima Mon Amour movie poster by Bedřich Dlouhý, 1963.

•••

  • b. 2nd August 1932, Plzeň (Pilsen), Czech Republic

Education / Pedagogue:

  • 1949 − 1952, Specialised Ceramics school in Prague 1
  • 1953 − 1959, Academy of Fine Arts, Prague (Karel Souček, Miroslav Hollý)
  • 1990 – 1995, taught as professor at Academy of Fine Arts, Prague

Exhibitions / Awards:

  • up to 70s artist exhibited mostly in group shows across the Europe and Czechoslovakia
  • IV. Biennale de Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1965 (Awarded)

Art Groups:

  • Palette of Homeland (unofficial trans.) / Paleta vlasti (Hockey team consisting of several of artist’s friends)
  • Šmídrové (from 1954)
  • Confrontation / Konfrontace (from 1961, also Jiří Balcar)
  • Retarded / Zaostalí (from 1987)

Film posters created: 23 (1962-1971) 2

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[quote]”It may sound slightly disrespectful, but I am aware that I have a huge wide inventiveness and it makes and justifies me to take interest in many sectors of the art form.” 3[/quote]

We are somewhere in mid fifties, in times of the most absurd terror upon democracy, constant greyness (Stalin’s monument in Prague and similar monsters are being raised across the Czechoslovakia) and bleak vision of existence. At the Academy of Fine Art in Prague the group of three interesting characters are meeting up. In the following words we will try to get closer to one of them.

[quote]”I started out as no one in that field and I was getting jobs for pretty inconsequential films from Romania, Bulgaria and Russia. They were productions of a third or second category. Because of the impressive quality of my work, film poster committee and ÚPF representatives (Formal state film distribution 1957 – 1991) were constantly adding to a momentum. It was reflected in good quality commissions for example for Fellini’s or Visconti’s magnum opus. I had to earn it.” 4[/quote]

Bedřich Dlouhý was not such a tyro/novice at the beginning of his poster designing career as he explains in the quote above. By the time he started to design movie posters (1962) his portfolio contained already good body of art work, some important exhibitions and possibly something extra to it. To his future colleagues he must have been known as someone incredibly talented, the man without hesitation and very likely also without compromise.

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The Fall of Berlin poster designed by Bedřich Dlouhý, 1968
The Fall of Berlin movie poster by Bedřich Dlouhý, 1968.

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Neglecting the art

Among Bedřich Dlouhý’s best early pieces was exhibiting with art group Šmídrové. Their first exhibition in 1954 called Malmuzherziáda (varieté of painting, music and act as we understand) was made in the hardest times of Stalinist propaganda and Social Realism. Jan Koblasa (Czech artist and the member of the group) in the documentary made for Czech Television demonstrates the climate of late fifties as “very dark and grey”. Days in art school, as days among communist collaborators (“recommended working class was gaining high school diplomas to get legal access to Universities). Loneliness among them was unbearable.” 5 No wonder that the three of them had met under such a circumstances. The group itself had very playful character with Neo Dadaist expression, hockey team and brass band.(Traditional folk music was not in favour of communist propaganda either, they had their own songs full of ridiculous slogans.)

[quote]“We loathed to look as an artists. We loathed to do things as an artists. We played hockey as part of our manifest Šmídrové. It may sound unbelievable, but the main thing was not to be an artist.” 6[/quote]

After their first collaborative exhibition the group was officially established. Show or rather happening in 1957 called “Exhibition for one day” brought in too much controversy. Event had to be cancelled in duration, but it took place elsewhere the following day. On the day one Václav Havel (Czech writer, poet, ex-president) was giving the speech and on the second day he was already taking part with good number of other artists and musicians. Bedřich Dlouhý’s discharge from the Academy followed and lasted for a while.

Poster days and …

As for the film poster Bedřich Dlouhý was testing the new medium so intensely as anything else. His posters might appear visually settled and designed in quite minimalist style. In our examples even his typography might look very basic. Less is more, but not for Bedřich Dlouhý’s movie posters. They are full of hidden symbols and impressions even when they seem so simple.

Please come closer and let’s take a look at his The Fall of Berlin movie poster for instance. Fairly suggestive photograph of burning German capital is taking over the larger part of the poster. Pure catastrophe straight into ones face and quite rightly in monochrome. Message is very simple, anyone could guess what the movie poster offers. Bedřich Dlouhý does not want you to only see the movie but he also wants you to use the rest of your senses.

[quote]”I enjoyed improvising incredibly.” 7[/quote]

He takes your attention a bit further by exploring the large circle in the middle of the rich red bottom half of the poster. Red colour could represent the tons of blood and it is possibly also used to say big STOP. Almost like the red colour on traffic light advising one to stop, only the circle here is empty. Negating reality and pointing out that people will never learn. Or take the circle together with rectangularly shaped photograph. Two objects want to look little something like exclamation mark and set the message to following? STOP THIS! ? Similarly to the inner part of the circle that tells how it could all end up if we do not stop the wars. His movie poster for Hiroshima Mon Amour was designed in absolutely different style, but the poster also suggests close catastrophe.

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Five Men and One Heart, movie poster by Bedřich Dlouhý, 1970.
Five Men and One Heart movie poster by Bedřich Dlouhý, 1971.

•••

There are not only serious movie posters author has designed, he does not omit humour and irony (posters designed for The Pink Panther / Blake Edwards in 1966 or In the Woods / Akira Kurosawa in 1970 ) 8 when necessary. He does not use any particular style either, but instead he approaches each individual poster very differently. The one connecting link we have found is that Bedřich Dlouhý’s curiosity does not like to leave things as they are. He wants to get right into to the core of his subject by bringing out the deepest details and he starts from there. He slips between the most complicated expressive forms (techniques frequently used in his paintings) 9 to the most simple designs masterly. Visual illusion and yet with fantastically clear almost microscopic explanation.

Even thought Bedřich Dlouhý created some of the most iconic movie posters of the 60s, his unconventional approach to art form did not meet with the official agenda of the following decade. Similarly to many other artists in the beginning of the 70s he was forced to stop exhibiting and discontinued with designing movie posters.

Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.

Available posters designed by the artist.

•••

Resources:

Literature:

  • Collective authors: Czech film posters of 20th century / The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Exlibris Prague, 2004.
  • 2. Flashback / Czech and Slovak Film Posters 1959-1989, ed. Libor Gronský, Marek Perůtka, Michal Soukup, Olomouc Museum of Art, 2004. (p.49). 25 movie posters to our knowledge.
  • Tomáš Vlček: Současný Plakát / Contemporary Poster, Odeon, Prague, 1976.
  • Československý Plakát / Czechoslovak Poster, exhibition catalogue, Olomouc (Czech Republic), 1967. One of the most important poster exhibition in the history of Czechoslovak poster design. We wish to return back to catalogue and give it a full blog post once we are ready.

Online:

  • 1. abArt / Bedřich Dlouhý / see for the full list of exhibitions. abArt takes always first place and star when it comes to research.
  • 3. / 4. Czech Radio Archive / offers few of his interviews
  • 5. / 6. / 7. Fenomém Underground / Underground Phenomenon (unofficial title), Collective authors, 2012. Documentary made for Czech Television. 52 min.
  •  8. Filmový plakát (Bedřich Dlouhý) / excellent archive of Czechoslovak poster art

Additional research:

  • for Pinterest users, some posters are available to see in our board
  • 9. Museum Montanelli, Prague / Return of the King, exhibition 2015

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Poster Designs / Sixties – Jiří Balcar. The Story of Film Posters.

ByjozefSquare Poster Designer | INdEX

Film posters in history. Sixties poster designs.

Poster Designer / Jiří Balcar

Painting / Graphic Art / Typography

The Death of Tarzan, Film poster, 60s Poster Art
The Death of Tarzan movie poster by Jiří Balcar, 1962.

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  • 26th of August 1929, Kolín
  • 28th of August 1968, Prague

Education:

  • 1947-1948, Philosophical Faculty of Charles University in Prague
  • 1948-1953, Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (prof. F. Tichý, F. Muzika)

Awards:

  • 1960, The most beautiful book of the Year, (Brno ?)
  • 1962, Toulouse-Lautrec Prize, Paris (film poster Moby Dick)
  • 1964, Honorable Mention, First Czechoslovak Showcase of Poster and Promotional Graphic Art, Brno1

Film posters created: 34 (1960-1967)2

***

Excellent 60s poster design by Jiri Balcar
This Year in September movie poster by Jiří Balcar, 1963.

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Czech artist Jiří Balcar could easily belong to one of the most fascinating poster designers of the Sixties. It’s hard to judge by the small number of his posters in our collection, but his artwork as we are finding out, spreads all across the globe (short list bellow). Internationally started off at Farleigh Dickinson University in Madison (New Jersey) where he took part in International Invitational Seminar of Art, followed by exhibition in New York in 19643 , Berlin (1965-66) and Wien (1966). Paris exhibition in Musée d’Art Moderne (1969) was held soon after his early death in 1968.

A wide spectrum of his artistic experiments are brought in from the painting and are reflected in his poster designs. Extensive use of letter templates, sometimes broken into separate parts, wise and bright selection of colours (unless Monochromatic, or sensible mix of both), unconventional use of photography and perfect understanding of space. His faceless figures, motif reappearing on several of his paintings, could become alive only on the film poster.

***

Movie poster, The Dacians, 60s poster design
The Dacians movie poster by Jiří Balcar, 1967.

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Jiří Balcar was the member of several art groups.

***

His artwork takes place in collections of museums and galleries worldwide. We have picked little selection with direct links.

  • The Baruch Foundation (impressive collection of Jiří Balcar‘s portfolio and other artists from behind the “Iron Curtain”), Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • The British Museum, London, United Kingdom
  • Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
  • Czech Museum of Fine Arts, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, USA
  • National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA
  • Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

***

Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.

Sixties film posters available in our shop.

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Literature:

  • 2.  Flashback / Czech and Slovak Film Posters 1959-1989, ed. Libor Gronský, Marek Perůtka, Michal Soukup, Olomouc Museum of Art, 2004. (p.41)

Online resources:

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Poster Designs / Sixties – Robert Brož. The Story of Film Posters.

ByjozefSquare Poster Designer | INdEX

Film posters in history. Sixties poster designs.

Poster Designer / Robert Brož

Art Editor / Book Illustration / Graphic Art / Typography

1970s Book Cover, Robert Broz
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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Typography Poster, 1970s Kids Poster
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, 1970s Logo, Robert Broz
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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Book cover, Martin Martinček, Cradle
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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Photography book cover, Martin Martinček, Highlanders
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

Online:

abArt / Naděžda Bláhová

Images used:

  • * 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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Poster Designs / Sixties – Jan Brychta. The Story of Film Posters.

ByjozefSquare Poster Designer | INdEX

Film posters in history. Sixties poster designs.

Poster Designer / Jan Brychta

Book Illustration / Caricature / Film Animation / Painting

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Karel Čapek, 60s movie poster
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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Excellent minimal poster art
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, Family Guide Book, Illustration Jan Brychta
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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Jan Brychta, TV Graphics, 1960s Design
Television graphics by Jan Brychta, Adolf Born and other pioneers of 1960s TV visuals.

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Note: this showcase is part of our ongoing article Film posters / Made in Czechoslovakia. The story of film posters.

Available film posters by Jan Brychta.

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Resources:

Literature:

  • plenty with zero results

Online:

  • abArt / Jan Brychta
  • 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.

Additional research:

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