From Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn:
Gloria in excelsis deo. Illustrated by Vojtěch Kubašta. Czechoslavakia: c. 1960.
This double-page pop-up illustrating the Christmas nativity scene was created by Vojtěch Kubašta (1914-1992), a Czech artist and book illustrator. Born in Vienna and raised in Prague, Kubašta began his career as an artist and book illustrator in the early 1940s after studying architecture at the Polytech University in Prague.
His distinctive bold and colorful figures, as seen in this work, became increasingly popular. After the Czech publishing industry was nationalized in 1948, Kubašta began creating advertising materials for Czech products abroad that included three-dimensional cards for items such as Pilsner beer, porcelain and sewing machines. Beginning in the 1950s, he developed elaborate paper construction crèches annually (this being an example) each Christmas season. At this time, Kubašta also designed pop-ups of traditional fairy tales and other children stories (Little Red Riding Hood—1956 being his first) working with the Czech publishing house Artia.
His beautifully designed and intricate pop-ups were later produced from the 1960s-1980s worldwide and became the inspiration for the revival of the pop-up book industry in America.—Elizabeth Broman
Gift of Stephen Van Dyk
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