Josef Lada was a Czech painter, illustrator and writer whose work touched generations.
Josef Lada is without any doubt one of the most beloved Czech personalities of the 20th century. His unique style of painting idealized the Czech rural life and his paintings and stories have been a part of the childhood of several generations of Czechs. If was not just his friendly demeanor that made people feel close to him but also the fact that the Czech saying “Neštěstí nechodí po horách ale po lidech” (Misfortune does not walk on mountains but on people) could be applied to his family just the same like to other people.
Where to start telling the story of a person so dear to many? Let’s start from the very beginning…
A Shoemaker’s Son
Lada was born on December 17, 1887 in Hrusice (read Hrusice,
the village from drawings by Josef Lada) as the youngest of four children. Although his forefathers used to be the advocatus of the village, Lada’s family lived in very humble conditions of a one-room cottage, the other room being the cattle stable.
“Our old house (number 15) was built under a mild slope so almost the whole rear side wall leaned onto the soil. There was only one room for people, one small hall, a cowshed, a small barn and smaller sheds for the geese and the pig. The hall had an entrance to the living room and to the cowshed and so I often heard mocking remarks because we shared the entrance with the cows. There was a small and cozy garden behind the house.
The one room was used for cooking, sleeping and shoemaking. Six members of our family slept there. And often also a wayfarer whom my father showed mercy when he couldn’t find accommodation elsewhere in the village.”
– Josef Lada Dětem
His father Josef was a shoemaker and in fact, nobody called young Josef “Lada”. For the village people, he was Pepík Ševců (Pepík bein the diminutive form of “Josef” and Ševců meaning “of the Shoemakers”). When he was just half a year old, he fell on a shoemaker’s knife (knejp) and lost sight in one eye and, in consequence, the binocular vision which influenced his painting style.
Josef Lada, Painter…
Lada started school at the age of 5 and we know that he didn’t like it at all. It was his disliking of school that had led him to develop his drawing skills, he liked to amuse his classmates with animal drawings. After finishing elementary school at the age of 13, his parents sent Josef to Prague to be a house painter apprentice. He quit after four weeks and went on to become a bookbinder’s apprentice.
Being in Prague made it easier for Josef Lada to pursue his painting career. He sent his sketches to various newspapers and in 1904, one of his drawings was published anonymously in a magazine called Máj. Motivated by this accomplishment, Lada applied to the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague but wasn’t accepted. He attended drawing courses in the evenings and had several drawings published in a humoristic magazine. The media of that period was only interested in caricatures and humoristic sketches, therefore, the beginnings of is career went in this direction. The interest in his drawings grew and the year 1906 was a major break for Lada. Not only was he accepted to the Academy of Arts but also he was commissioned to illustrate his first book Pohádka o Honzíkovi a zlatovlasé Isole (A Tale of Honzík and the Gold-haired Isola) by Jaroslav Havlíček. Three years later, he became an editor of the magazine Karikatury and in 1910, his drawings were first painted abroad (German Empire).
The Good Soldier Švejk
Upon returning from the Great War, the writer Jaroslav Hašek commissioned Lada to illustrate the books of the Good Soldier Švejk (Dobrý voják Švejk). Hašek passed in 1923 but Lada continues publishing the soldier’s stories in drawings.
Illustrating children’s books
Lada illustrated many books of fairy-tales and rhymes, some of which he co-wrote.
Later in Life
With the start of the Second World War, Lada abandoned the caricatures and a big part of his drawings focused on the water goblins called vodník, water fairies called rusalka and the night watchmen ponocný. He started showing more melancholic tendencies in his drawings after his wife passed away, although he never stopped creating for children and few years before his passing, he even collaborated on animated movies.
The overall numbers count around 600 freestyle drawings and paintings and 15 thousand illustrations. He was awarded the title National Artist in 1947.
… Writer…
At the end of the 1920s and being already a recognized artist, Josef Lada started writing and illustrating his own children’s books, for example, Říkadla našeho Kadla (Rhymes of Our Karel) or Dobrodružství Tondy Čutala (The Adventures of Tonda Čutal), while continuing to illustrate books of other authors. There are over 20 books with his authorship of the text and illustrations, some published posthumously.
Mikeš
By far his most famous book is O Mikešovi – kocourek, který mluvil (About Mikeš, the little tomcat who spoke, published in 1930) and its sequels. The book tells the story of Lada’s life in Hrusice and the cat he had when he was a boy (he actually had a tomcat called Mikeš). Mikeš eventually teaches other animals to talk and after he breaks a milk crock he decides to leave to earn money for a new one. Not surprisingly, Mikeš has a memorial statue in Hrusice.
O chytré kmotře Lišce
In 1937, Josef Lada published another book called O chytré kmotře Lišce which tells the adventures of another talking animal. The fox who grew up in the gamekeeper’s cabin and learnt to speak, lives in the nearby forest and has some incredible adventures with her friends.
Kroniky mého života
In 1942, Lada published an autobiography called Kroniky mého života (Chronicles of My Life), the first edition was affected by war censorship.
Josef Lada Dětem
Another children’s book, Josef Lada dětem (Josef Lada to the children), was published in 1952. It starts with Lada’s telling the stories of his childhood and the book contains also rhymes by Jaroslav Seifert and František Hrubín. The illustrations are by Lada, of course.
… and Scenographist
Lada added scenography to his career portfolio in 1930 when he was commissioned for the theatre play Strakonický dudák by Josef Kajetán Tyl. He also did the 1936 scenography of Smetana’s Bartered Bride for the National Theatre.
Family Life
Josef Lada married Hana Budějická in June of 1923, they had two daughters, Alena and Eva. Alena became a famous painter and illustrator just like her father and she wrote a book Můj táta Josef Lada (Josef Lada, My Dad). Their daughter Eva, who was born just one day after Lada’s birthday, was a talented pianist and died in the Emmaus Monastery bombing in 1945 by the USAAF, aged just 16.
Josef Lada died on December 14, 1957.
Josef Lada’s Legacy
Josef Lada’s daughter Alena inherited his father’s artistic talent and her painting style, although unique and recognizable, was similar to his. And Lada’s grandsons are keeping his legacy very much alive. Their base is the webpage joseflada.cz where you can purchase many articles with Lada thematic. His drawings are made into posters and postcards, keychains, coasters…
In 1996, the asteroid 17625 was discovered and it bears the name 17625 Joseflada. There was also a train with his going between Prague and České Budějovice, it was discontinued in 2018.
There are streets named after him – Ladova ulice – in Prague, Olomouc, Hradec Králové, Brno and other towns and Lada’s memorial can be found in his birth village Hrusice.
Some of Lada’s stories have been made into animated tales and they are broadcasted as the evening story for children called Večerníček: O chytré kmotře lišce, O Mikešovi
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Photo of young Lada: Unknown – Moravian Library in Brno, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127202221
