Josef Váchal (1884-1969)

THE IDEAS OF GODS

1925 - 1926
Color woodcut on paper 25x24 cm (40,8x33,6 cm), signed in pencil lower right under the print area "J. Váchal", titled lower left "Představy bohů", annotated lower center "Bar. dřevoryt, č. tisku 1.", signed lower right in print "J. Váchal". A very rare copy from Váchal’s peak creative period. This motif was used as the frontispiece for Váchal’s book Koruna bludařstva, to jest Postyla kacířská. As Váchal himself stated in his publishing notes, the book was printed in 16 copies, and furthermore, "These woodcuts, apart from the book, were printed three more times on separate sheets, and the printing blocks were destroyed during the process." This is therefore the first of a total of three loose sheets that Váchal produced.