Artists

From the early 1950s until 1989, leading Czechoslovak graphic artists devoted their time to the creation of film posters. It was only in Czechoslovakia and Poland that graphic artists worked on film posters to such an extent. In this section you will find posters by the 50 most influential Czechoslovakian artists, including Karel Vaca, Milan Grygar, and Zdeněk Ziegler. You can find posters by hundreds of other artists in our database. Use the search bar to find the artist you’re looking for.

Balcar, Jiří (35)

Created 34 film posters in the years 1960-1967. In the early 60´ s he was one of the first artists to introduce a modern art language in the film poster industry (collages, paper cutting etc.)

Bidlo, Vladimír (75)

Author of posters for famous Czech films like The Fireman´s Ball. Very often uses collage and photo collage.

Born, Adolf (55)

Grafic designer, illustrator and caricaturist with a very unique style. Author of animated films. His early film poster for Waltz for a Milion from 1960 is quite intriguing.

Čech, Jindřich (34)

Author of mostly painted posters. A typical poster for him would be a poster for a children film.

Dlouhý, Bedřich (31)

Although he created only 23 film posters he is considered one of the prominent authors of the 60’s and 70’s. His posters for films like 8 ½, Hiroshima, My Love and The Pink Panther are known worldwide.

Duda, Stanislav (35)

Author of painted film posters, especially for children films and American slapsticks.

Duchoň, Josef (30)

Has been making film posters since the end of the 50’s. In his colourful posters he makes use of collage and photo collage (The Secret Life of an American Wife", The Sword and the Balance).

Dydek, Ladislav (16)

He had created several expressive posters before he went into exile. These are painted poster Černý Orfeus or designs for British films Zpropadená kariéra and Hrdina malého světa on which he had used a photocollage inventively.

Dyrynk, Martin (63)

A member of a younger generation. Most of his work comes from the 80’s. The author of the famous poster for Miloš Forman’s Hair.

Fára, Libor (79)

In his poster designs he used only paste-up. Very significant style. One of his most appreciated works is a poster for Bergman’s movie Scenes from a Marriage- .

Figer, Jiří st. (80)

Worked as a promotional graphic designer at Czechoslovak State Film until the late 1950´s.

Fišer, Jaroslav (134)

Created 104 film posters, used typography and a simple graphic concept. Among his typical posters belong: The Quarterly Balance, The Apple Game, Cleo from 5 to 7, Little big man and The Bridge at Remagen.

Flejšar, Josef (570)

A member of an elder generation (born 1922) who used in postermaking newly and with invention the paint-brush technique. He created film, theater and exhibition posters.

Foll, Dobroslav (105)

Started making posters in the 2nd half of the 50’s (a very succesful placard for a Soviet sci-fi film Heaven´s call ,1959). He continued in his career until the end of the 80’s.

Fremund, Richard (32)

Painter Richard Freimund created 29 film posters in the 1st half of the 60’s. He was the first artist to use cut-out letters in the film title and a tapestry as an ornamental feature of the poster background.

Gal, Jaromír (12)

He had coped successfully with Kazan´s classics in the poster Třpyt v trávě. Likewise a poster design for film by Yugoslav rebel Dušan Makaveyev Ohrožená nevinnost was grotesquely playful.

Galová-Vodrážková, Eva (43)

Inspired by the hippies movement, she brought a fantasque colourfulness into the Czech poster of the 60´s and the 70´s. Posters for Hello Dolly, Mary Poppins and others come from this period.

Grygar, Milan (215)

Author of 175 highly valued posters (1960-1989). Many of them belong to the golden fund Blow Up,
Juliet of the Spirits, A Man and a Woman, a convolut of posters for Ch.Chaplin’s films and etc.

Hájek, Eduard (13)

The Paprsky inženýra Garina by Soviet director Alexander Ginzburg belongs to sci-fi genre that was in East-European cinematography very popular and wide-spread in 70´s and 80´s.

Hanák, Mirko (8)

Although, Mirko Hanák had created only a few posters, some of them belong to the Golden fund of Czech poster. It is foremost a gentle poster for film by Ingmar bergman Letní sen and an intimate design for early film by František Vláčil Holubice.

Hilmar, Jiří (59)

Before his immigration to Berlin he had belonged to the pioneers of the moder film poster (award for a poster collection at IFF Karlovy Vary in 1962). He is known especially for his Belmondo posters (Crazy Pete, Breathless).

Hlavatý, Vratislav (104)

Has been making film posters since the beginning of the 70’s. Together with J.Šalamoun and P.Poš he brought into this branch a grotesque humour (Planet of the Apes, ) Author of an awarded poster for film Harold Lloyd.

Hrdina, Miroslav (56)

He applied his expierience with book illustration by a poster designing fully. There is a number of demands for his poster on Visconti´s film The Stranger

Istlerová, Clara (16)

Creates only typographical posters and loosely takes up work of Zdeněk Ziegler.

Jaroš, Alexej (247)

His career was taking place from the beginning of the 60’s till the end of the 80’s. His placard for a French film The Lone She Wolf is very succesful. This versatile author made use of many techniques (painting, collage, etc.).

Kadrnožka, Dimitrij (118)

Has been making film posters since the end of 50’s. At first he used a painting technique (Sonatas, Jungle cat), later also collage and photo collage (Tom Jones; Move Over, Darling).

Kaplan, Zdeněk (51)

His film posters were influenced by art deco style. Soft patterns and detailed drawings are typical for his posters: My Fair Lady, Live for Life, The Penguin etc.

Kardaus, František (40)

A promotional printmaker, technic designer and a painter. In 1957-1958 he created by his incommutable creative handwriting ca 20 film posters for The Central Film Rental.

Kasík, Václav (15)

In a poster design for film by French director Robert Dhery Výhodná koupě Václav Kasík had used ornate car, that refers to his loose design production.

Kubíček, Jan (38)

Most of his posters illustrate comedy films (Man in Outer Space, 30 Years of Fun, Florian) by means of stylized drawing and caricature.

Laštovka, Karel (20)

Author of 20 painted film posters among which the most interesting is a placard for a famous film by Italian director Visconti Death in Venice.

Machálek, Karel (53)

His unique style consists of Pop Art influence, model reproductions and human face close-ups. It is recognizeable in his typical placards (Beladonna-, The House of the Bories, Chimes at Midnight, Oedipus Rex).

Malát, Radim (10)

Malat´s poster design for film Help by famous Beatles is very sought-after. A poster design for Soviet film Agent bez hesla represents exciting spy genre.

Meisner, Jan (44)

An author of the cult poster on Dušan Hanák´s film 322. He used both painting and photomontage in his poster designs.

Míšek, Karel (228)

A poster for British film Garderobiér belongs to the most successful designs of 60´s. In a poster for American film Čtyři přátelé Míšek had used a motif of musical instrument in a creative way.

Nováková, Věra (46)

She had created first posters in the second half of 50´s. In 60´s, first exclusively painted posters were changed for collage and photomontage. An excellent piece is her poster for Yogoslav film Divné děvče or for Frech film Tak dlouhá nepřítomnost.

Palcr, Zdeněk (38)

His poster for Black Peter was once considered obscene and used to be censored by cinema managers. He created posters for famous films of the Czechoslovakian New Wave (The Shop on Main Street, A blonde in love.)

Paleček, Vladimír Václav (55)

Started to create posters at the beginning of the 60´s. Later, he added collage and photo-collage techniques (The Visitors, The Long Day´s Dying, Babette Goes to War) into his early painted posters.

Pechánek, Miroslav (23)

Pechánek had accompanied Italian film Konformista and British film Běž si a dováděj with great designs. A playful Dobrodružství na Labi belongs to jewels of children series.

Poláčková-Vyleťalová, Olga (89)

Her concept of a poster for the film A Gentle Creature by R.Bresson became an icon of the Cs film poster. Her work is characterized by its poetic atmosphere and fantasy (Affection, Young People).

Poš, Petr (91)

Author with a unique style of grotesque drawn and painted posters: Zulu Dawn, The Mission, Shades of Fern, The Sting. As an art designer he worked on several animated films (Fimfarum).

Pražák, Čeněk (19)

In his work he shifts from painting to collage. His placards for films The End of Belle, It´s All Happening are very succesful. Immigrated after 1968.

Reindl, Miloš (54)

Until his immigration in 1968 one of the most original placard authors. Princess of Cleves, The Ashes, Under 18-, Murder She Said belong to the most succesful film posters of the early 60’s.

Rotrekl, Theodor (28)

Great czech illustrator and graphic designer who´s common for his works in area of science-fiction literature. He created few successful movie posters. Most appreciated is Ikarie XB-1- directed by Jindrich Polak.

Saudek, Karel (71)

A leading representative of the Czech comics school. Cooperated with Miloš Macourek on film parodies of comics superheroes and also created cult posters for these (Who would kill Jessie?-).

Schlosser, W.A. (85)

His posters for Napoleon and others, created at the beginning of the 60´s, introduced modern approaches towards film poster. He kept working on posters till the 80´s.

Sís, Petr (18)

Before his immigration he had created about 20 film posters especially for children films. Used his typical precise drawing technique (Blue light).

Sládek, Antonín (25)

Sládek’s attitude is characterized by pregnant drawings and sarcastic hyperbole (The Context, If…, Horse race fever). His film poster for Yellow submarine became a cult for Beatles fans.

Slovák, Jaroslav (14)

Jaroslav Slovák confirmed his sense of humor in posters for films Střední útočník aneb potíže s láskou and Harry a komorník.

Sůra, Jaroslav (131)

Jaroslav Sůra created almost 300 posters. However, his work for The Central Film Rental was more fragmental than his poster designs for theater and other fields. Still, he created a number of unique posters (Hot summer, The Big Catch- etc.)

Svoboda, Jiří (14)

Created outstanding posters for several essential films of the Czech new wave (Diamonds of the Night, Valley of the Bees, Every Young Man).

Salamoun, Jiri (33)

A distinct representative of Czech illustration and animated film. Together with V. Hlavatý and P. Poš he enriched film posters with elements of grotesque humour (Shame, A Girl Fit to Be Killed, How Poets Are Enjoying Their Lives).

Šebek, Břetislav (108)

His painted placards are typical for his work at the end of the 50’s and beginning of the 60’s. Later on he enriched his painted posters with dynamic collage and distinctive typography (Criminals, High Noon).

Teissig, Karel (103)

The first Czechoslovakian artist awarded for his film poster abroad (Burziáni 1961, Toulose-Lautrec Award, Paris-Versailles). He created many brilliant pieces of art work (The Beast is Loose, Viridiana etc).

Tesař, Vladimír (18)

Posters of Vladimír Tesař, though he worked more in other fields of applied art, are impossible to overlook. For example, his design on Pasolini´s film Mamma Roma- is dominant.

Tománek, Jan (101)

A productive author of the 70’s and 80’s. He created new version of posters for the Czech film classic (Limonádový Joe, Až přijde kocour). His poster triptych for French comedies with Louis de Funés was very succesful.

Vaca, Karel (330)

From the beginning of the 60’s till the end of the 80’s he created unbeliavable 290 concepts of film posters! His posters for films The Sweet Life-, The Cry, Adelheid, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner etc. became icons.

Vajce, Stanislav (24)

Author with a distinct, dynamic expression. His colourful posters contain wild collages and inventive typography (Girl on a Motorcycle, Fathom, Happiness).

Vlach, Zdeněk (244)

In the 70’s and mainly in the 80’s he got inspired by surrealistic styl of Josef Vyleťal. He combined painting with airbrush. This autodidact created over 200 film posters (The Name of the Rose, A Cruel Romance, Excalibur).

Vodák, Karel (27)

The most famous Vodak´s poster is The Seventh Seal which was created by laconic, but precise use of film photography. He addressed himself to designs of film posters on children films, where he created very playful posters Modrá myška, Zvířátka a kouzelníci.

Vyleťal, Josef (126)

His work was characterized by a surrealistic poetics. He cooperated with Juraj Herz on Beauty and the Beast and he also created a wonderful poster for this film. Other important works: The Birds, Amarcord, Easy Rider.

Weber, Jan (148)

His posters aoriginated mainly in the second half of the 70’s and in the 80’s. Very often his posters accompanied release of American films in the Czech distribution (One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest, Rambo, Wild at Heart).

Zálešák, František (98)

Author of a legendary poster for an Oscar-awarded film by Jiří Menzel Closely Watched Trains. He often uses collage and photo collage (Who´s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Medical Doctor Sommer the Second).

Zeman, Václav (29)

Created film posters from mid 60’s using technique of collage and photo collage (Hymn to a Tired Man, Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, Casanova 70).

Ziegler, Zdeněk (382)

Created about 280 concepts of film posters. His original style stems from creative typography. Each of his posters emphasises type and its art possibilities (The Birds / Psycho, Roma, Pit and the Pendulum, The Trial).

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