Bohumil Stepan Illustrates Gulliver in Gulliverovy Cesty

Bohumil Štěpán (April 12, 1913 Krivoklat – March 1, 1985 Mnichov) was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist. He studied at the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts and the Rotter Graphic School in Prague. He printed his first drawings in the student magazine H2SO4. In 1937, he exhibited a figural composition in the foyer of...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

August 12, 2017

Otakar Štáfl Takes Us To The Moon and Beyond

Otakar Štáfl was born on December 30, 1884 in Havlíčkův Brod. Located in the medieval town fortifications of Havlíčkův Brod is a bastion, which today bears the name of Otakar Štáfla. He had his studio on the premises. He did not finish grammar school and headed straight for Prague where he was admitted to the...

Childrens Books, ENTERTAINMENT

July 26, 2017

Winnetou, Old Shatterhand and Old Surehand by Karl May

Karl Friedrich May (February 25, 1842 – March 30, 1912) was a German writer best known for his adventure novels set in the American Old West. His main protagonists are Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. It began with Winnetou. Winnetou, the chief of the Apache, is a legend in many countries, especially in then-called Czechoslovakia. Fresh off...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

July 13, 2017

Czech Poet, Playwright and Author Jiří Mahen

In response to yesterday’s post, we’re looking at the author of Dvanáct pohádek (Twelve Fairy Tales), Jiří Mahen. Jiří Mahen was born Antonín Vančura on December 12, 1882 in Čáslav and died on May 22, 1939 of a suicide. He was a Czech poet, journalist, librarian, theater critic, novelist, playwright, essayist and director. He studied philosophy and linguistics...

Bohemians, PEOPLE

July 12, 2017

Twelve Fairy Tales Illustrated by Jiří Trnka

Today we are looking at the lovely illustrations by Jiří Trnka from the book Dvanáct pohádek (Twelve Fairy Tales) by Jiří Mahen. The book these came from was published in 1947 and has 122 pages. We have written about the work of Jiří Trnka before, when we reviewed his film Ruka (The Hand) and looked at scenes from...

Childrens Books, ENTERTAINMENT

July 1, 2017

Korálky – A Czech Children’s Book from Long Ago

In the late 1800’s, children did not have as much access to books as we have now. The books that did exist were filled with moral lessons. In the Czech Republic, František Doucha, (August 31, 1810 – November 3, 1884) was one of the most famous Czech literary translators and writers. Today we’re looking at the simple...

NOSTALGIA, Periodicals

June 12, 2017

Czech Secret Police in Prague and Their Surveillance Photographs

Today we’re looking at some amazing (private) moments in time photographed by the (communist) Czech secret police while conducting surveillance during the 1970s and 1980s. Obviously, none of these people gave their consent and most did not even know they were being followed or photographed. Most of the images were taken from under folded newspapers, in...

CULTURE, Photography

June 2, 2017

Encyclopedia of Bohemian and Czech American Biography

Today we’re sharing a message from the Czech Ambassador who praises Mila Rechcigl’s Encyclopedia of Bohemian and Czech-American Biography. You’re surely familiar with some of Mila’s work by now because he has been kind enough to allow us to share some of it here at Tres Bohemes. The work we’re looking at today was published...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

Encounter-By-Milan-Kundera-Book-Review-Tres-Bohemes

January 29, 2017

Milan Kundera on Art, Literature, and Music

Encounter is a non fiction book by Czech-born author Milan Kundera which defends art in it’s various forms. Milan Kundera was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia (Now the Czech Republic) in 1929. As a young man, he studied musical composition and musicology. He then went on to study literature and aesthetics at the Charles University in...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

border-crossings-charles-novacek-cover-tres-bohemes

November 30, 2016

Border Crossings by Charles Nováček

Border Crossings is an award-winning memoir by Czech author Charles Nováček. It is an excellent book which mingles the fascinating life of an incredible man with the history and turmoil of his country during the 20th century. Charles Nováček was a member of the Czech resistance. He served in the resistance against the Nazi’s and,...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

October 25, 2016

The Ancient Town of Most is Brought Back To Life in a Book by Pavel Brycz

I, City is a novel about the Northern Czech city of Most written by Czech writer Pavel Brycz. It is comprised of short stories and poems or “Appearances” inspired by Most and it’s inhabitants. Most was an ancient town in Northern Czech Republic which was literally relocated by the Most Coal Company in order to extract...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

October 19, 2016

Dreams of a Great Small Nation

Today we’d like to announce a very special talk of by fellow SVU* member, Kevin J. McNamara about his book, Dreams of a Great Small Nation. This book is a wonderful narrative about a part of history that could have been lost to the Western world, had not McNamara painstakingly collected documents, had them translated, and pieced...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

October 17, 2016

Nobody’s Son by Mark Slouka

We interrupt our regular programming to alert all of our Czech and Slovak friends in the New York area to try to attend Mark Slouka’s book launch for Nobody’s Son at the Powerhouse Arena on Thursday, Oct 20, 2016. Mark Slouka is a fellow member of Czechoslovak Society of Arts & Sciences (SVU)* and we’re pleased to...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

October 12, 2016

Čapek’s Bookshelf: The Book Design of Josef Čapek

Look at what we found today! A rare Japanese First Edition copy of Čapek’s Bookshelf: The Book Design of Josef Čapek. This amazing full color edition features 119 Czech Avant Garde book covers from the 1920s and 1930s. Superb collection of Czech avant garde graphic design from the 1920s and 1930s. Also includes an appreciation...

Art and Design, CULTURE

October 6, 2016

Czech Posters for Films

Again we came across something wonderful. Today we are sharing Czech Posters for Films from the Collection of Terry Posters. This is the official Exhibition Catalogue from 2013 and was published on the occasion of the exhibition from August 28 to December 1, 2013 at the National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and...

Art and Design, CULTURE

the-new-vision-for-the-new-architecture-czechoslovakia-1918-to-1938

October 1, 2016

The New Vision for the New Architecture Czechoslovakia 1918-1938

Browsing at an old bookstore, we came across a treasure! The New Vision for the New Architecture Czechoslovakia 1918-1938 by Jaroslav Andel, published by Scalo Verlag AG, Zurich 2006. What a beautiful and fantastic huge volume featuring the Modernist and avant-garde architecture from Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1938. This hardcover edition of The New Vision for...

Architecture, Books, CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT