Career
Kouba is identified as one of the artists responsible for the resurgence of wildlife art in the 1970s. Born to Anthony and Sophie Kouba, 1st generation Czechoslovakian-Americans, Kouba was delivered during a snowstorm, two miles east of Hutchinson, Minnesota. Kouba recalled time spent with his father during this time "contributed to my early appreciation of nature." Kouba"s professional career started at age 11, when he sold his first painting to a wealthy German farmer for $8 (approximately $110 in 2014 United States dollars).
Three years later, Kouba received his only formal art training which was through a Minneapolis based, correspondence called the Federal School of Applied Cartooning (currently known as Art Instruction Schools).
Upon graduation, Kouba traveled the United States, painting Coca-Cola logos on commercial signs, before the popularization of decals. Kouba not only painted their logo, he improved it by sloping and shading the flattened letter.
The Coca-Cola company got wind of Kouba"s redesign and granted him with a sizable commission for his efforts. Kouba opened his own commercial art firm called Kouba Advertising Artist
Some of his most famous contributions to come out of his Minneapolis based studio included: The Old Dutch windmill on potato chips bags and boxes, Schmidt beer wildlife scenes, and Red Owl grocery store"s logo.
Kouba also has three inventions that are patented. His inventions include the original Art-O-Graph and Map-O-Graph, which project enlarged images of artwork and maps. Kouba also owned United States Patent: 2478585, folded paper Goose decoys.
