Vojtěch Preissig (also, Voitech Preissig) (31 July 1873 – 11 June 1944) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

typographer, printmaker, designer, illustrator, painter and teacher. He studied in Prague at the School of Applied Industrial Art (in Friedrich Ohmann's Decorative Architecture workshop) from 1892 to 1896 and at the School of Decorative Architecture from 1897 to 1898.

Life

Vojtěch Preissig was born on 31 July 1873 in

Světec Světec () is a municipality and village in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants. Světec lies approximately south of Teplice, south-west of Ústí nad Labem, and north-west of Pr ...

, northern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. His father was a mining engineer.Neznámí hrdinové. Strmá cesta Vojtěcha Preissiga
- 26 min (Czech). In 1884 he moved to Prague where he studied at the School of Applied Industrial Art from 1892 to 1896, then at the School of Decorative Architecture from 1897 to 1898. In 1897 he moved to Paris and worked for two years with the Czech

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

artist,

Alphonse Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylized ...

. His early,

Secessionist Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

, work was influenced by

Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...

and

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

. He returned to Prague in 1903 where he founded the periodical ''Česká grafika'' ("Czech Graphics"), published the book ''Barevný lept a barevná rytina'' ("Color Etchings and Color Engravings") in 1909 and opened his own graphics studio in 1905. Unfortunately, the graphics studio was not a financial success so he moved to the United States in 1910 and worked as an art instructor. Preissig remained in the United States until 1930. He taught at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

starting in 1912, then moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

by 1916 and taught a course in graphic arts for the

Wentworth Institute Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts. Wentworth was founded in 1904 and offers career-focused education through 22 bachelor's degree programs as well as 11 master's degrees. History In 1903, B ...

. He became the director of the School of Printing and Graphic Arts, until 1926. During his time with the Wentworth Institute he designed recruitment posters for the United States armed forces of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, which were principally aimed at Czech immigrants.

Membership in Czech resistance

Preissig, along with his daughter Irena Bernášková, supported the

Czech resistance Czechoslovak resistance to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II began after the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the formation of the protectorate o ...

during both World Wars and was arrested in 1940 for doing graphic design work for one of the most important magazines of the resistance, called '' V boj'' ("Into the Fight"), that had been outlawed by German authorities. He died on 11 June 1944 in

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

Work

During

he designed recruitment posters for the United States armed forces, which were mainly directed at Czech immigrants. Preissig's work with book design and font design originated from a need for better printing type in Czech. Czech printers had traditionally used German typefaces and added additional diacritical marks as needed.

Preissig Antiqua

Preissig's work with typefaces began by creating the Preissig Antiqua typeface. Preissig created 'Preissig Antiqua' roughly around the early 20th Century that would influence the style of print and type designs not only in Czechoslovakia, but also all over Europe in general.

Tributes and awards

*The Czech government has commemorated Vojtěch Preissig by issuing stamps that feature his work in 1988, 1994 and 1998. *In 1992, after Preissig's death, he was awarded the

Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk The Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk () is an order (decoration), Order of the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1990 after the Velvet Revolution, and re-established in 1994 (following the dissolution of Czechosl ...

, class II. *In 2008 the United States embassy in Prague held an exhibit of Preissig's work.

References

External links

Postcards
an

by Vojtěch Preissig.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preissig, Vojtech Czech painters Czech male painters 1873 births 1944 deaths Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Czech typographers and type designers Czech illustrators Art Nouveau illustrators Art Nouveau painters Columbia University faculty People from Teplice District Czech resistance members Czech people who died in Dachau concentration camp Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps Czechoslovak civilians killed in World War II Artists from Austria-Hungary Linocut artists Illustrators from Bohemia