KUBASTA, Vojtěch

"Kubasta's work is so impressive, so spectacular"

Born in Vienna, Vojtech Kubasta grew up in Prague, studying architecture and engineering at the Czech Technical University there.  He never intended to be a pop-up artist, but drifted into it through helping to design posters and advertising material for a wide variety of products and companies.   However in the early 1950s he entered a lifelong partnership with Artia, the state publishing company, with his first pop-up, How Columbus Discovered America, published in 1954. He was influenced by his own collection of early moveable greetings cards and the traditions of the Czech puppet theatre, with his complex, tightly integrated scenes being produced with a minimalist’s touch “What’s astounding about Kubasta … is that he achieved his effects using a single piece of paper.” [Sabuda].  Kubasta’s intricate, sophisticated creations reinvigorated the pop-up industry, giving it a lustre it had not had since WWI.

One of the most prolific paper engineers and illustrators of his time, his creations covered all areas of the book and movable paper arts, but his Christmas Nativities, or creches, are particularly beautiful, and are now widely sought after by collectors

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