The world of illustration is multifarious: there are as many styles as there are artists. What sorts the men (and women) from the boys (and girls) is a true and recognizable individualism. This individual style is therefore appreciated for what it is – an expression of the self, especially if it genuinely reflects what that artists sees with their own two eyes.
Thus is it with Josef Lada, Czech artist of the first half of the 20th century. His distinctive style is at once naïve and charming and also stylistically recognizable with the characteristic strong lines used in outline. A self-taught artist, he suffered from an accident in his youth that meant depth-perception became difficult. His art, because it does not try to emulate other syles, works precisely because of these qualities. A maverick young artist, he was unable to finish art school and by drawing for magazines and newspapers gained recognition as a cartoonist and illustrator.
He published children's books, but also provided illustrations for more popular and adult works, such as The Good Soldier Švejk, the lovable soldier who, along with other Czechs in the Austro-Hungarian empire during World War I, was fighting a war he didn't understand for a country about which he confessed no loyalty. An unfinished work, it nevertheless became a famous and hilarious anti-war dark comedy.
Lada kept faithful to his humour and his style even during World War II where as an officially banned artist he had to rely on income from selling his work to private buyers and collectors. His representations of a nostalgic rural life also allowed him to survive under the communist regime until his death in 1957. Some of his work can be seen here.
It is clear that Josef Lada was not only a loving patriot, but also a lover of people and loved drawing attention to their foibles and failings. His work shows a Czechoslovakia of the dim and distant past, but it is also possible to see humanity as it is.
He is still popularly recognised as an important and instantly-recognisable artist closely associated with all things Czech. To see his work is to identify the land and people: it isn't difficult to love this place. Those who who have lived here get sentimentally misty eyed in remembrance (as in the video above). Lada instinctively knew what lay at the heart of his country; perhaps more importantly, could articulate it through his work. Just as there was a childish delight in the way he portrayed life, so there is a childish delight to be enjoyed by viewing his work.
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