Josef Vachal (1884 - 1969)

A Walpurgis Night's Dream, 1914


Elementary Plan of Passions and Instincts


Decorations for Czech Puppets


Incubus (Succubus), 1907


Temptation of Saint Anthony


Satanic Invocation, 1909


Samiel on Sonnberg


Demon Heads


Alchemist, 1910





Revolution, 1928


The Cloaca of the Street, 1910





Astarte's Mass, 1907


Sabbath, 1911


Dead Man's Dream, 1918


Messenger, 1915


Josef Belial, illustration from "The Devil's Garden," 1924


Moorland Demon, 1932

"Josef Váchal (September 23, 1884 in Milavče near Domažlice – May 10, 1969 in Studeňany) was a Czech writer, painter, printmaker and book-printer.

Váchal was the son of Josef Aleš-Lyžec and Anna Váchalová - his parents never married. He was brought up by his grandparents, Jan Aleš and Jana Alešová, in the southern Bohemian town of Písek, where he entered grammar school but left it prematurely. In 1898 Váchal moved to Prague, where he studied bookbinding and befriended his father's cousin, the painter Mikoláš Aleš. He was influenced by Art Nouveau during that time.

In 1900 he wrote his first poems, by 1903 he joined the Prague Theosophy Society, in 1904 he entered the Painter School and later became a respected painter and graphic designer. In 1910 Váchal published his first two books. Between January 1912 and January 1913 he enjoyed a short but intense friendship with the mystical Catholic writer Jakub Deml. In March 1913, Váchal married Máša Pešulová, and began a friendship with the collector J. Portman; Portman's house Portmoneum is now the Váchal Museum in Litomyšl.

From 1916 to 1918 Váchal served as a soldier on the Italian front. During 1940, expressing resistance against Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, he moved from Prague to the village of Studeňany ('tusculum' or 'exile'). After the communist revolution of 1948 in Czechoslovakia, he became more socially and culturally isolated and his works were rarely seen in public. He lived in obscurity on the family estate of his partner, Anna Macková, in Studeňany. Even with the coming of Prague Spring in the late 1960s his situation didn’t significantly change. He was, however, awarded the state title of Meritorious Artist (Zasloužilý umělec) shortly before his death in 1969. He is buried in the village of Radim near Jičín, eastern Bohemia." - quote source


Artworks found at www.vachal.cz, Album of the Magic Search Exhibit. A video showcasing the entirety of a recently published book of Vachal's art can be viewed here.