Josef Lada (1887–1957)

The nostalgic image of the charming, romantic landscapes of the Czech countryside treasured by so many is, to some extent, associated with Josef Lada, an exceptional figure in Czech illustration. With his masterful works – both timeless and distinctively Czech – this illustrator, caricaturist, painter, stage designer, scenographer and author of modern fairy tales for children has earned himself an exclusive position in modern Czech art. To this day, many magazines (Besídka malých, Humoristické listy, Šibeničky) are inextricably linked to his personal signature, as are books by Jaroslav Hašek (The Good Soldier Švejk), J. Š. Kubín and Jan Neruda. Throughout his life, Josef Lada produced 15,000 drawings and over 400 paintings, illustrated 122 books, drew 20 posters, and created four animated films, one puppetry film and a 26-part animated series.

 

Lada first learned to draw (under the tutelage of Professor Jakesch) in an evening course at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, where he was admitted as a regular student in 1907. Even as a student, he was already pursuing the humorous drawings and illustrations that became central to his work. As early as 1911, he had refined his unique artistic style, characterised by an understanding of colour as a flat surface, a broad, colourful palette and distinctive Art Nouveau contours. Inspired by personal memories of his rural childhood, his drawings generally offer an optimistic, often humorous view of the world. In his paintings and works of literature, the artist enjoyed returning to the motifs of idealised landscapes and life in the central Posázaví region. Animals endowed with human characteristics and depicted as affectionate caricatures were another important motif. In the 1920s, the influence of “urban” and “rural” Civilism was palpably present in Lada’s works and, as a result, he became a leading pioneer of the Czech myth and the idyllic Czech landscape. His autonomous works of the 1930s and 1940s (particularly in the techniques of gouache, watercolour and tempera), which often depict idyllic village life in various seasons, are also very valuable.