2025 № 4 (55)

UDC 76 

BBC 85.103(3)

DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2025-4-136-177

Vinogradova Elena K. 

PhD (in Art History), Honoured Culture Worker of the Russian Federation, Leading Researcher, The Central Europe Art Department, State Institute for Art Studies, 5 Kozitsky Lane, Moscow, 125375, Russia 

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6793-0466

E.K.Vinogradova@mail.ru

“I Am not an Observer, I Am a Participant”. On Josef Čapek’s Pre-War Caricature

Abstract. The article focuses on a little-studied facet of the vast oeuvre of the artist and writer Josef Čapek (1887–1945), an important figure in the Czech avant-garde of the early 20th century and one of the founders of Czech Expressionism and Cubism. The study examines the cartoons created between 1933 and 1938 in the atmosphere of the rise of fascism in Europe and the foreboding of the coming war. They include the series In the Shadow of Fascism (1933–1938), A Dictator’s Boots (1937), and Modern Times (1938). Special attention is paid to the anti-fascist character of Čapek’s satirical prints and to the humanistic aspects of his treatment of everyday themes which sometimes take on a phantasmagorical character by depicting man in extreme situations. The author’s task is to study the peculiarities of the figurative and stylistic structure of the artist’s satirical and humorous graphics and the nature of his metaphor which allowed him to achieve the sharpness and relevance of the content. 

Keywords: Josef Čapek, Czech fine arts, graphics, caricature, magazine drawing, anti-fascist creativity 

References:

Vinogradova E.K. Voinstvyushchee iskusstvo [Militant Art]. Iskusstvo revolyutsiei prizvannoe: Velikaya Oktyabr’skaya sotsialisticheskaya revolyutsiya i iskusstvo stran Vostochnoi Evropy: Sbornik statei [Art Called by Revolution: The Great October Socialist Revolution and the Art of Eastern European Countries: Collection of Articles], ed. B.I. Rostotsky. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1969, pp. 258–268. (In Russian)

Vinogradova E.K. Jozef Čapek: Al’bom [Josef Čapek: Album]. Moscow, Izobrazitel’noe iskusstvo Publ., 1981. 62 p. (In Russian) 

Dostoevsky F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii: V 30 t. [Complete Works: In 30 vols.], USSR Academy of Sciences, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House). Vol. 24: Dnevnik pisatelya za 1876 god, noyabr’ — dekabr’ [Diary of the Writer for 1876, November — December]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1983. 518 p. (In Russian)

Slavik Ya. Jozef Čapek protiv fashizma i voiny [Josef Čapek against Fascism and War]. Vzaimosvyazi sovetskogo i chekhoslovatskogo iskusstva: Sbornik [Interrelationships of Soviet and Czechoslovak Art: Collection], USSR Academy of Sciences of the All-Russian Research Institute of Art Studies of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Theory and History of Arts, ed. O.A. Shvidkovsky. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1981, pp. 87–95. (In Russian)

Čapek J. Iz knigi “Nachertano na tuchakh” [From the book Written on the Clouds]. Čapek J. Nachertano na tuchakh: Izbrannaya proza i stikhi [Written on the Clouds: Selected Prose and Poetry], comp., preface, notes O. Malevich. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1986, pp. 209–266. (In Russian)

Čapek K. Zhurnalistika. 1931. Frazy iz interv’yu [Journalism. 1931. Phrases from Interviews]. Čapek K. Ob iskusstve. Teatr i kino. Izobrazitel’noe i prikladnoe iskusstvo, arkhitektura. Literatura [On Art. Theater and Cinema. Fine and Applied Arts, Architecture. Literature], comp., intr. article, notes O. Malevich. Leningrad, Iskusstvo Publ., 1969, p. 249. (In Russian)

Bratři Čapkové. Karikatura a francouzští humorist. Čapek K. O umění a kultuře. Vol. 1. Praha, Československý spisovatel, 1984, ss. 30–34.

Čapek J. Dějiny zblízka: Soubor satirických kreseb, vybral a úvodní studii O. Mrkvička, předmluva k Diktátorským botám J. Hora. Praha, Fr. Borový, 1949. 25 s. textu, reprod. s.a.

Čapek J. Goya žurnalista. Čapek J. Moderní výtvarný výraz. Praha, Československý spisovatel, 1958, ss. 111–114.

Čapek J. Jedno k druhému. Čapek J. O sobě. Praha, Československý spisovatel, 1958, ss. 30–34.

Čapek J. Dopis Josefu Florianu: 03.01.1923. Glivický J., Opelík J. Vzájemná korespondence Josefa Čapka a Josefa Floriana z let 1918–1938. Praha, Památník národního písemnictví, 1989, s. 224. (Literární archiv: Sborník Památníku národního písemnictví, 23).

Čapek J. Psáno do mraků: 1936–1939. Praha, Pražská edice, 1993. 351 s.

Hoffmeister A. Sto let české karikatury. Praha, Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1955. 556 s.

Pečírka J. Josef Čapek. Praha, Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umění, 1961. 113 s., 267 reprod.

Slavík J., Opelík J. Josef Čapek. Praha, Torst, 1996. 601 s.

V okovech smíchu: Karikatura a české umění 1900–1950, O. Chrobák, T. Winter (ed.), texty a výběr reprodukcí O. Chrobák, T. Winter, V. Fronk, V. Adamová. Praha, Gallery, 2006. 128 s.

Received 29.05.2025

Accepted 11.08.2025