Josef Váchal (1884–1969) was a Czech writer, painter, printmaker and book printer. In 1900 he wrote his first poems, by 1903 he joined the Prague Theosophy Society, and later became a painter and graphic designer. In 1910 Váchal published his first two books. Between January 1912 and January 1913 he enjoyed a short but intense friendship with the mystical Catholic writer Jakub Deml. In March 1913, Váchal married Máša Pešulová, and began a friendship with the collector J. Portman, to whom this book is dedicated.
A Set of Cycles of Wood Prints / Ode to the Very Genial Doctors and Medieval Practitioners is written in what the Czech-born illustrator Peter Sis calls “a very spaced out language” that goes like this:
Workers of the SpiritThis barbarian is singing a song to youYou are among the most esteemed you preservers of mankindCult of the future priestsYou who bring joy and surprising diseasejust like when the sun comes to surprise the nightTo you I sacrifice, you the enablers of power, pride and beautyIn healthy body three, who let blood and had surgery andwere newly born to life
During World War I Váchal served on the Italian front, where, like many of the German Expressionists with whom he emulated, he was impacted by its horrors. During the 1940s he went into internal exile to avoid Nazi occupation.
His eclectic Art Nouveau, Symbolist, Expressionist work ran the gamut from the harshly comic woodcuts below—somewhere between the prints of Felix Vallotton and Paul Gauguin—and simple landscapes.
The publishing house Paseka was inspired by the character publisher Paseka in Vachal’s Bloody Novel. Portmoneum, Váchal’s museum in Litomyšl, was founded by Paseka publishing house in the early 1990s.
2014 Typography & Lettering Awards
Typography is one of the most vital keys to successful design—and Print’s all-new Typography & Lettering Awards is here to celebrate it. But this isn’t just a competition for classic type designers: We’re looking for projects that feature great uses of type by any designer. We’re looking for handlettered work. And, of course, we’re also looking for original typefaces built from the ground up.
Enter today for a chance to have your work judged by Paul Shaw and Jessica Hische, and for a chance to be featured in Print magazine, and more.
RELATED POSTS
The Bernini Of Cardboard Sculptures
About Steven Heller
Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Designer /Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program, writes frequently for Wired and Design Observer. He is also the author of over 170 books on design and visual culture. He received the 1999 AIGA Medal and is the 2011 recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award.View all posts by Steven Heller →