The Life and Art of Vojtech Kubasta (1914-1992)

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Technology

Kubasta had a great love and respect for children and never patronized them in his works. He gave each child something age-appropriate in order to engage them in the story: bright, bold anthropomorphic images for the very young, hidden details for the older ones to search for, and pop-ups to encourage the active participation of everyone. One of his gifts as an illustrator was the ability to distill a complex series of actions into a coherent and easily understood cohesive whole. In illustrations relating to manufacturing and industry, Kubasta combined his technological knowledge with an eye for detail that made the most intricate procedures understandable. Some of the best examples of this talent may be seen in the two-volume series, I Know Why (Uz Vím Proc, Albatros -1979, 1980). Whether illustrating the process for making chocolate or how sound is produced, Kubasta’s simple line drawings instructed all levels of readers. In Behind the Scenes of the City (Zákulisí Velkomesta, Albatros-1982), he remarkably clarified the intricacies of the transportation and sewer systems, and even the workings of a cardiac defibrillator. He patterned the book on the How and Why series by Grosset & Dunlap, 1960-1975. Privately, Kubasta joked that the Russians took credit for all the great discoveries and inventions.50

Mature Works

In the 1960s, Kubasta came up with the idea for the Tip + Top + Tap series, about two adventurous pre-adolescent boys and their dog. He wanted to create real characters reflecting twentieth-century children and events and, taking into account worldwide sales, he needed character names that were accessible in any language. Many of the highly original titles were reflective of Kubasta’s own personality: his joie de vivre, sense of humor, love of the outdoors, curiosity about nature, and a solid grounding in technology. Perhaps Top, the less adventurous and clearly porcine boy, was based on Ünger, one of the Quadrifoliacs, described as overweight and decidedly sedentary. The format of the Tip + Top + Tap books is similar to the fairy tale series with the text parallel to the spine, but are square and larger in size. Technical subjects are intelligently approached, as in Tip + Top Build a Motorcar. Drawings, equations, and tools are illustrated in detail as the two scamps try to build a boxcar, an activity with which most boys of the day could relate. At the back of each book is a puzzle or game to further sharpen the mind and grab the interest of the readers.

Artia did not have sole rights to Kubasta’s prodigious output. Throughout his career, he worked with several publishers, including the Slovak publisher, Mladé letá. Titles published by Mladé létá often featured die-cut holes. For instance, Clocks (Hodinky-1968) had a die-cut through the entire book that revealed a clock with movable hands on the end board. By moving the hands, children could match the time of day with the activity Kubasta depicted on each page. The book was recently reprinted in 2004. The Grasshopper and the Ants (Svrcek a mravce –1958), based on the Aesop fable, anticipated the next page by showing a glimpse of it through a die-cut hole. As in many of Kubasta’s books, music is featured as a sub-text with the grasshopper playing the violin while the ants struggle with their work.

Besides illustrating the classic tales, in the 1970s Vojtech Kubasta also wrote several stories of his own. In many cases, his authorship went unacknowledged. Michael Dawson, an authority on Kubasta, calls the books the White Series because of their white linen bindings and white covers. The books are really primers for young children with each of the six spreads on a single topic, such as music, counting, and carnival events. Many publishers around the world often reprinted them with glazed boards and different cover art.

In the 1970s, Kubasta began an extensive collaboration with Helena and Eduard Skoda, including the I Know Why series. These prolific writers found many additional projects for him to illustrate, among them, books and technical magazines for teenage boys. Kubasta even reprinted in 1991 a counting series from the 1960s in which the original texts were adapted and rewritten by the Skodas. The series consists of twelve small pop-up booklets in a slipcase and are meant to help small children learn to count. Animals singing and playing various instruments are featured throughout the texts.The original counting books are among the most highly prized and sought after in the Kubasta oeuvre.

Kubasta continued to use his architectural skills by transforming an old synagogue into a cultural center. He restored it by preserving its distinctive elements. In the early 1950s, he purchased a vacation cottage near the town of Dobrís, where the synagogue was situated. He renovated the original structure several times. Finally in1959, he completely rebuilt it, designing a fireplace decorated with boldly colored glass and built-in and free-standing furniture. In 1973 a studio and a bedroom were added to the existing structure. He loved to tend the cottage’s Alpine garden but, in the latter part of his life, spent less and less time there due to difficulties with his wife.51

At Home and Abroad

Domestic life was very important to Vojtech Kubasta and because of his close family ties, he did not flee Czechoslovakia as Jan Pokorny did in 1938. His lack of foreign language skills at that time was also a factor in keeping him from seeking exile abroad.52 The Prague Spring came to an end in 1968 with the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and as daily life became more restrictive, Kubasta sent his daughter, Dagmar, to live in Canada. He continued turning out a plethora of illustrated and movable products for his publishers, but took the time to also design and make for his three Canadian grandchildren pop-up greeting cards for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, and other special occasions. When Dagmar and her children visited Prague, he prepared brightly illustrated posters greeting the family with “ahoj!” – “Hello!” in Czech. The posters usually pictured him, along with his wife Helena, and his surrogate son, Roman, anxiously awaiting their guests’ arrival. Kubasta had previously given his surname to Roman, who was the son of his daughter Helena. Kubasta spoiled the child, lavishing on him unfettered love and gifts. After Dagmar left for Canada, she observed that Roman “filled the void”.

He kept in touch with Dagmar in Canada, almost on a weekly basis, with personal letters that minutely detailed the vagaries of the publishing business and his ideas for new products. Kubasta often created works of art in response to very private personal matters. For example, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, his wife Helena gave him a gravesite as a gift. Kubasta riposted with a colored pen and ink drawing of her as a shrew – a character pervasive in his illustrations – looking out from her doorway at a motley mob of devils, gnomes, Krampus, wizards, snarling dogs, and other well-known Kubasta figures. And yet, typical of the optimistic and loving person he was, he lightened the mood of the picture with gift-bearing urchins and, above it all, his trademark smiling moon and radiating star.

Kubasta was a curious and inveterate traveler and found time to vacation with his family in France, Italy, Croatia, and Czechoslovakia. While traveling with his sketchpad, watercolors, and colored pens and pencils, he drew and painted numerous private images, including botanicals, street scenes, and portraits. One of the highlights of his many adventures was a trip to Fréjus, France, in August 1966, where he sought the “energy, colors, [and] atmosphere” of the bullfights. At the arena, he heard that Pablo Picasso was in attendance, and, with Dagmar in tow, he marched over to the world-famous artist and handed him a sketchbook. Picasso immediately drew the head of a large bull, signed it and returned it to Kubasta. He loved Picasso’s work, calling him “an artist whose artistic ability had no restrictions. [He] was not restricted by the line.”53 The Picasso sketch held a venerated place among Kubasta‘s personal possessions.