Josef Váchal, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Josef Váchal

Czech poet, occultist, engraver and artist

Date of Birth: 23-Sep-1884

Place of Birth: Milavče, Plzeň Region, Czech Republic

Date of Death: 10-May-1969

Profession: writer, poet, graphic designer, illustrator, painter, sculptor

Nationality: Czech Republic

Zodiac Sign: Libra


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About Josef Váchal

  • Josef Váchal (23 September 1884 in Milavce near Domažlice – 10 May 1969 in Studenany) was a Czech writer, painter, printmaker and book-printer. Váchal was the son of Josef Aleš-Lyžec and Anna Váchalová - his parents never married.
  • He was brought up by his grandparents, Jan Aleš and Jana Alešová, in the southern Bohemian town of Písek, where he entered grammar school but left it prematurely.
  • In 1898 Váchal moved to Prague, where he studied bookbinding and befriended his father's cousin, the painter Mikoláš Aleš.
  • He was influenced by Art Nouveau during that time. In 1900 he wrote his first poems, by 1903 he joined the Prague Theosophy Society, in 1904 he entered the Painter School and later became a respected painter and graphic designer.
  • In 1910 Váchal published his first two books.
  • Between January 1912 and January 1913 he enjoyed a short but intense friendship with the mystical Catholic writer Jakub Deml.
  • In March 1913, Váchal married Máša Pešulová, and began a friendship with the collector J.
  • Portman; Portman's house Portmoneum is now the Váchal Museum in Litomyšl. From 1916 to 1918 Váchal served as a soldier on the Italian front.
  • During 1940, expressing resistance against Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, he moved from Prague to the village of Studenany ('tusculum' or 'exile').
  • After the communist revolution of 1948 in Czechoslovakia, he became more socially and culturally isolated and his works were rarely seen in public.
  • He lived in obscurity on the family estate of his partner, Anna Macková, in Studenany.
  • Even with the coming of Prague Spring in the late 1960s his situation didn't significantly change.
  • He was, however, awarded the state title of Meritorious Artist (Zasloužilý umelec) shortly before his death in 1969.
  • He is buried in the village of Radim near Jicín, eastern Bohemia. The publishing house Paseka was inspired by the character publisher Paseka in Vachal's Bloody Novel.
  • Portmoneum, Váchal's museum in Litomyšl, was founded by Paseka publishing house in the early 1990s.

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