Written by Denisa Sobotova
Josef Lada
Josef Lada was a Czech painter, illustrator, stage designer, and writer. He was born on 17th December 1887 in village Hrusice in the Central Bohemian Region as the youngest child into a family of shoemakers. As a child, he fell on a shoemaker’s knife and severely hurt his eye, which led to him only seeing properly in one eye, and this limited vision influenced his artwork later in life. Since childhood, Josef Lada loved to paint, so in 1901 he started to visit a school for room painters in Prague, but that did not satisfy his passion, so he later changed schools. He contributed to many magazines in his students’ years, which gained him more popularity.
Lada’s artwork employs thick lines and colorful playfulness. He was known for his observational talent that he could put onto a paper. His artwork is filled with positivity and harmony. He mainly focused on the life of ordinary people, and it is not a surprise one of his biggest inspirations was his native village, where he spent his childhood and time with his family on holidays.
In 1906 Lada befriended Czech writer Jaroslav Hasek, who was known for his carefree lifestyle. Lada, Hasek and other people from artistic circles often visited low-class pubs, but this friendship was significant in Lada’s life. Jaroslav Hasek is the author of the book The Good Soldier Svejk. After the first world war, Hasek returned to the Czech Republic from Russia and asked his friend Lada to illustrate the book cover. Lada loved the book so much that he illustrated the cover and also ended up making a series of illustrations. To this day, Ladas illustrations are inseparable from Hasekʼs text.
Lada was not only an illustrator and painter but also a writer and with some other Czech authors, started something called modern fairytales. He is also an author of fairytales Kocour Mikes, Bubaci a Hastrmani, O chytre kmotre Lisce, and more. Kocour Mikes is one of his most known fairytales about the adventures of a black cat and his friends; this fairytale was later animated. Lada’s impact on film was also significant. He was the stage designer for many fairytales, and after Lada died, many of his own fairytales got their film version.
After Jaroslav Hasek died and Lada finished his work on his illustrations for the book, he married his long-time friend Hana and together, they had two daughters – Alena and Eva. Eva tragically died in 1945, when the city of Prague was bombarded. That left a mark on his wife, who died shortly after. His second daughter, Alena, followed in her father’s footsteps and became an illustrator herself.
