350 000 Kč

Paintings

artist

Adolf Born

period

1988

technique

Watercolor on paper

dimensions

70 × 50 cm

Adolf Born (1930 – 2016) was a Czech painter, graphic artist, illustrator, animator, and set designer. Born on June 12, 1930, in České Velenice, he passed away on May 22, 2016, in Prague. His father was a railwayman, who was transferred to Cheb in 1933 at the beginning of the Protectorate, and then to Prague. The family moved with him. Adolf Born began his studies at the Vyšehrad grammar school and, after graduating in 1949-1950, studied art education at the Faculty of Education of Charles University in Prague and caricature and illustration at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague under Professor Antonín Pelc. After three years at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, he transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, following his teacher Antonín Pelc, where he successfully completed his university studies in 1955 after another two years. In the 1960s and 1970s, he primarily focused on caricature. He won international awards, traveled abroad, and made many friends there. In 1964, he participated in the World Caricature Exhibition in Montreal, where he later won the Grand Prix in 1977. From successful caricatures for print and reproduction, Adolf Born transitioned to so-called grotesque graphics intended for collectors, galleries, and publishers. His graphics have an unmistakable style, featuring peculiar characters, bizarre animals, fairground jugglers, elegant gentlemen in top hats from the imperial era, and ladies with high hairstyles, large décolletages, and cigarette holders. Adolf Born also dedicated himself to book illustration. He illustrated around 230 books and countless covers, for example, Miloš Macourek – Mach and Šebestová, Karel Čapek – War with the Newts, Jiří Žáček – April School, Daniel Defoe – Robinson, Astrid Lindgren – Pippi Longstocking, and many others. Born first entered the film world at the end of 1962, collaborating with Václav Bedřich on the film "When I Grow Up". He also worked with this director on other films (e.g., "The Double", "Atom", "Dangerous Traveler",…). In 1972, he began collaborating with screenwriter Miloš Macourek and animator Jaroslav Doubrava. Their collaboration resulted in the evening series "Mach and Šebestová", which he worked on from 1976. In the late 1980s, the evening series "Žofka and Her Adventures" was created. In addition to these evening series, Born worked on the feature-length animated film "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Sailor from York", where he was responsible for the animated part. He also contributed to a number of live-action films by creating animated titles, including "How to Drown Doctor Mráček, or the End of Water Sprites in Bohemia", "How Poets Lose Their Illusions", and "The End of Poets in Bohemia", where he participated in the production of animated parts. He last participated in the live-action film "Mach and Šebestová and the Magic Headset", for which he created the animated parts. He interrupted his collaboration with the film world after the death of Miloš Macourek, with whom he had a personal friendship. In total, he participated in the creation of 62 films in terms of art, screenwriting, or directing.