Pictures in Focus: Two Prints by Jaroslav Vodrazka

August 27, 2023

Pictures in Focus: Two Prints by Jaroslav Vodrazka

 Jaroslav Vodrazka belongs to a special "lost generation" of Czech artists who were born under Austro-Hungarian rule, witnessed the break-up of the Empire in World War I, enjoyed national freedom in the interwar period, endured Nazi Occupation in World War II, then, Soviet domination in the post-war years. A few lived to experience the all too brief Prague Spring. Vodrazka is known for his small-format prints and ex-libris book plates, often incorporating religious motifs, which could be easily circulated among a small group of friends and collectors and escape official censorship. We have added two new samples of Vodrazka's graphic art to his profile page. A chapel crowns a hilltop in a woodcut of a Bohemian landscape. Don Quixote keeps vigil at the Cross in an etching of the Crucifixion. The Dreamer of Impossible Dreams was a favorite subject of this Czech Printmaker who hoped for a brighter future for his homeland that he would not live to see. (John Kohan)