Pioneers of Graphic Design: Mucha, Teige, Sutnar, and Šašek
The history of both Czech and global graphic design would be incomplete without the groundbreaking contributions of Czech artists whose work transcended borders and shaped visual culture worldwide. This event explores the lasting impact of Alphonse Mucha, Karel Teige, Ladislav Sutnar, and Miroslav Šašek—visionaries whose innovations continue to inspire designers today.
Mucha, the pre-eminent exponent of Art Nouveau, revolutionized visual culture in Belle Époque Paris with his iconic theatre and advertising posters, laying the foundation for modern graphic design, whileTeige, a key figure of the European avant-garde, redefined book design through bold typography and geometric compositions. Sutnar pioneered modern information design, creating user-friendly communication systems that remain relevant today, and Šašek’s beloved This is… series of illustrated city guides reshaped how generations of children experienced the world.
Curator Tomoko Sato (Mucha Foundation), Peter Zusi (The Integrity of the Avant-Garde, Karel Teige and the Biography of an Ambition, Legenda 2024), Adrian Shaughnessy (graphic designer and RCA senior lecturer), and Lukáš Novotný (designer and illustrator) will shed light on how these Czech designers helped shape modern visual culture through a series of illustrated presentations, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.
Chaired by John Walters, editor of Eye, the international review of graphic design.
Tomoko Sato has been curator of the Mucha Foundation since 2007, overseeing its exhibition and research programs. Formerly curator at the Barbican Art Gallery (Barbican Centre), London, she has curated a wide range of exhibitions examin- ing the art, architecture, design, and photography of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with a long-standing interest in the artistic and cul- tural cross-fertilization between East and West. Her publications include Japan and Britain: An Aesthetic Dialogue, 1850–1930 (Lund Humphries, 1991), The Wilde Years: Oscar Wilde and the Art of His Time (Philip Wilson, 2000), Mucha (Taschen, 2015), Alphonse Mucha Photographs (Mucha Foundation Publishing, 2018), and Le Pater: Le Grand Oeuvre d’Alphonse Mucha (Édition de la Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais, 2023).
Peter Zusi is Associate Professor of Czech and Comparative Literature at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, where he also serves as Vice Dean for Research in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities. Peter’s research spans various disciplines, including Czech and German literature and culture from the 18th through 21st centuries, Central European intellectual history, Czechoslovak film and photography, Slovak literature, theory of literary and visual avant-gardes and modernism, philosophy of history, Critical Theory, and the intersection of literature and architecture. He is also the author of the recently published The Integrity of the Avant-Garde: Karel Teige and the Biography of an Ambition (Cambridge, England: Legenda, 2024).
Adrian Shaughnessy is a graphic designer, writer, educator and publisher. A senior lecturer at the RCA, he also works as an independent design consultant. His book How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul has sold 80,000 copies and been translated into multiple languages. He is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a regular contributor to leading design journals. He co-founded Unit Editions, publishing acclaimed design books, and has authored monographs on Herb Lubalin, Ken Garland, Paula Scher, Vaughan Oliver, FHK Henrion and Lance Wyman.
Lukáš Novotný is an illustrator, graphic designer and author. His background is in the world of civil engineering and architecture, and most of his illustrations and design work relates to architecture and cities. His latest book, Modern New York, won 2024 Communication Arts Awards while his first book, Modern London, was shortlisted for the British Book Design Awards. His work was featured on BBC Radio London, TimeOut London, Czech Television, Londonist, Grand Designs magazine, Outsider and more.
John L. Walters is the editor and co-owner of Eye, the international review of graphic design, and also edits Pulp journal for Italian paper company Fedrigoni. He has written extensively about graphic design and culture, and has programmed and co-hosted 49 Type Tuesday events at the St Bride Foundation in London. Originally a maths/physics graduate, Walters founded the electrojazzpop group Landscape (landscape.band) and worked as a composer, arranger and record producer before launching the award-winning CD journal Unknown Public with Laurence Aston in the 1990s. For five years he wrote a music column for The Guardian. Walters is the author of Alan Kitching: A Life in Letterpress (2016) and has won three ‘Editor of the Year’ BSME (British Society of Magazine Editors) awards. He has edited Pulp since 2014 and Eye since 1999.
This is an accompanying event to Identity - The Story of Czech Graphic Design exhibition at the Vitrínka Gallery and Bouda Gallery, Czech Centre London, running from 28 February till 30 June 2025.
Recorded on Tue 22 Apr 2025 at the Czech Centre at the Czech Embassy Cinema.
More information about events at Czech Centre London:
https://london.czechcentres.cz/en/program
#mucha #teige #czechgraphicdesign
Australia