Jim Wald

2 weeks ago

Jim Wald
2 weeks ago

Returning to art: we mark the birthday of #Czech artist-illustrator Josef Čapek (23 March 1887)
His early personal ex libris in Art Nouveau style by Josef Wenig (1885-1939)
The idyllic scene is all the more poignant as the Nazis would murder him in Bergen-Belsen in spring1945
1/5

romantic scene: couple on circular bench around large fruit tree on lawn. Ochre sky and fields with farmhouse in distance below.
Framed in gray textured with fine vertical lines.
Beneath garland at bottom:
Ex libris J Čapek

Artists's initials in tiny rectangles at upper left and right

#czech

in reply to Jim Wald

Jim Wald

in reply to Jim Wald 2 weeks ago

Although Josef Čapek's early ex libris) was in the Art Nouveau style, his own work was modernist, encompassing elements of Cubism, Expressionism, and Symbolism, as in this 1918 ex libris for leading bibliophile Mojmír Helcelet (1879-1959). Although Jewish, he survived the war
2/5

female figure:

stylized image (composed of a few thin, simple gray lines): eyes and wavy hair, hand to mouth and nose
cross-hatching in oval area around the lower face

text: Knihy Helcetovy

sources:
https://biblio.hiu.cas.cz/#!/records/261def8b-4eb0-4b68-9603-a55de90ce38d

in reply to Jim Wald

Jim Wald

in reply to Jim Wald 2 weeks ago

A few of my recently acquired characteristic small independent graphics by Josef Čapek (b. 23 March 1887) employing a consistent design schema and color palette, from 1926
3/5

linocut in shades of pinkish-brown (what would have been earlier described as the Caucasian "flesh tone" of Bandaids) and black on white:

a series of distorted faces, features in black, on the "flesh" and white ground: one or two heads seem to have hair and all essential features in black, whereas in others, only select features are highlighted

linocut in shades of pinkish-brown (what would have been earlier described as the Caucasian "flesh tone" of Bandaids) and black on white:

upper half of images: roses in the "flesh" tone and a few leaves in black

lower half, white against black:

a female and male figure, hands joined, in antiquated dress, above them a dagger; t the left a cross, to the right, what appears to be a crossbow

linocut in shades of pinkish-brown (what would have been earlier described as the Caucasian "flesh tone" of Bandaids) and black on white:

against a stone or brick wall in "flesh" tone with individual rectangles outlined in white:

a splayed white figure, as if executed: black blotch over the heart
on the ground, irregular black shapes, as if components of the body

linocut in shades of pinkish-brown (what would have been earlier described as the Caucasian "flesh tone" of Bandaids) and black on white:

standing on irregular island-like shapes in the "flesh" tone:

three black silhouettes of men wearing top hats, labeled 1 2 3 (like undertakers? bureaucrats?)
in the foreground three black crosses

in reply to Jim Wald

Jim Wald

in reply to Jim Wald 2 weeks ago

As noted, the Nazis murdered artist Josef Čapek in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in the spring of 1945. He has no grave & the exact date of his death is not known.

This is one of the most creative memorials in Prague, commemorating both Josef & his brother Karel (d. 1938)
4/5

"In 1990 it was agreed to erect a permanent memorial to the brothers in the attractive square Náměstí Míru, just opposite the Vinohrady theatre; and in 1995 the finished monument by the sculptor Pavel Opočensky was unveiled. A gaunt three-metre-tall granite block from the Šumava mountains in southwestern Bohemia, its opposing faces are punctured with holes spelling the names of the Čapeks, while the sides are pricked out with the dates of the brothers’ births and untimely deaths."

Náměstí Míru: Memorial to Josef and Karel Čapek — The Prague Vitruvius

https://pragitecture.eu/namesti-miru-memorial-josef-karel-capek/

face showing the name Josef Čapek

in reply to Jim Wald

Jim Wald

in reply to Jim Wald 2 weeks ago

Although author Karel Čapek is renowned for his drama R.U.R (for Rossum's Unviersal Robots), it was in fact his brother Josef (b. 23 March 1887) who suggested the term (from the Czech term for enforced unpaid work: robota) as preferable to "laborers"

english.radio.cz/exhibition-sh…
5/5

Exhibition shows diverse work and fortunes of Josef Čapek

If artist Josef Čapek is less known to non-Czechs than his younger brother Karel, the writer, that’s all the more reason to visit the new exhibition dedicated to his life…

^{Radio Prague International}

Jim Wald

Jim Wald

Jim Wald 2 weeks ago • •

Jim Wald

Jim Wald

Jim Wald

Jim Wald

Exhibition shows diverse work and fortunes of Josef Čapek

Jim Wald
2 weeks ago