#MovableMondays: Table, Lay Yourself!
Known for his series of pop-up adventures using bright colors and folk-artsy-style illustrations, Vojtech Kubasta鈥檚 beautifully paper-engineered books have been translated into multiple languages and were read worldwide by children during the 1960s and 1970s.
Highlighted this week by the Libraries is 鈥!鈥 (1960s), one of Kubasta鈥檚 books that has easily assimilated into the world of three-dimensional art and is loved by people worldwide.
鈥淜ubasta is one of the biggest names in the history and evolution of movable books鈥 said Miriam Intrator, special collections librarian.
According to , Vienna-born Kubasta, who grew up in Prague and studied architecture and engineering at the Czech Technical University, never intended to become a pop-up artist鈥攂ut as was true of many Europeans during those times, World War II upended his life and turned his artistic endeavors elsewhere.
鈥淚n between, Kubasta鈥檚 fertile imagination and restless hand [he] turned out a remarkable volume of work in every conceivable genre: advertising art, government propaganda posters, souvenirs of Prague and Brno, a pop-up Mecca for the Iranian market, a series of children鈥檚 counting books, classic fairy tales, a cover illustration for the Czech translation of 鈥楾he Egg and I,鈥 Christmas nativity scenes, New Year鈥檚 cards and an unsigned series of pop-up books tied to 鈥楤ambi,鈥 鈥101 Dalmatians鈥 and other Walt Disney films,鈥 wrote Grimes.
The classic tale written by the Brothers Grimm, 鈥淟ay Table Lay!鈥 contains eight cut-away illustrations constructed as a three-dimensional 鈥渟tanding鈥 artwork that is joined accordion-style to the spine of the book.
鈥淭he main things I want people to take away from a Kubasta book is knowing they are [not only] looking at a book made by one of the most important people in the history of movable books, but also experiencing the color, and the texture and the depth of the images,鈥 said Intrator. 鈥淵ou may not even notice the text because you are so drawn into the images.鈥
Please continue to follow the #MovableMondays series on the Libraries鈥 social media accounts: , , and .
Here is what you may have missed: 鈥Astronomicum Caesareum;鈥&苍产蝉辫;The Daily Express;鈥 鈥Mariners Compass Rectified;鈥 鈥A Series of Amusing Transformation Scenes; 鈥淎 Pop-up Guide to North American Wildflowers;鈥 and 鈥淩obinson Crusoe.鈥