Background
Váchal was the son of Josef Aleš-Lyžec and Anna Váchalová - his parents never married. In 1898 Váchal moved to Prague, where he studied bookbinding and befriended his father"s cousin, the painter Mikoláš Aleš.
illustrator painter sculptor writer graphic designer
Váchal was the son of Josef Aleš-Lyžec and Anna Váchalová - his parents never married. 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 1910 Váchal published his first two books 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").
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. The publishing house Paseka was inspired by the character publisher Paseka in Vachal"s Bloody Novel.
Portmoneum, Váchal"s museum in Litomyšl, was founded by Paseka publishing house in the early 1990s.
Krvavý román published 1924
Mor v Korcule (published 1927)
Malíř na frontě. Soca a Italie 1917-1918 (published 1929)
Šumava umírající a romantická (published 1931, 11 copies)
Receptář barevného dřevorytu (published 1934) - theoretical work on woodcut techniques
Nejnovejší legatio mortuorum (published 1936)
Kázání ad calendas graecas (published 1939, 17 copies)
Ďáblova odstředivka (published 1941, 10 copies)
Čertova babička (written 1940-1948)
Moudrost Svobodného zednářství (written 1951)
Robinson mohelnský (written 1955)
Živant a umrlanti (written 1956)
Čarodejnice z Holešovic neboli Vězeň v bolševickém hradě (written 1959)
Paměti published 1994
Deníky 1922-1964 published 1998.