Josef Lada

Born Dec. 17, 1887, in Hrusice; died Dec. 14, 1957, in Prague. Czech graphic artist and painter. People’s Artist (1947).

In 1905, Lada became a student at the School of Industrial Arts in Prague. He was influenced by M. Ales. Lada created numerous book illustrations, caricatures, and drawings for animated cartoons. These works, often in color, are marked by bold, simple contours. Lada also created landscapes, for example, Triptych With a Czech Landscape (1935, National Gallery, Prague). His work, which resembles folk art, is simple, clear, and filled with cheerful humor. Particularly popular are his water-color illustrations of Mischievous Fairy Tales (1946) and of his own book Childhood Memories (1953), as well as his india ink drawings for J. Hašek’s book The Good Soldier Š vejk (1924). Lada’s illustrations for Childhood Memories are marked by poetic spontaneity; his ink drawings for Hašek’s book depicted a gallery of social types.