Illustrator Nominee: Czech Republic

Adolf Born
Czech Republic, Illustrator

Adolf Born was born in 1930 on the Czech-Austrian border where life was not only bilingual, but also multicultural. He had relatives who lived in Austrian and Czech territories, and his nostalgic memories of his gentle South Bohemian infant years provided inspiration for his later pictures: bowler hats, capes, corsets, old gramophones have all been creatively rendered afresh in his imaginative artwork. Prague, to where his family moved later in Born's boyhood, is also depicted in, for example, his visual recollections of Christmas fairs in Charles Square.

In 1955 Born graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague with a strongly developed interest in drawing and graphic art. At the time of his graduation, communist dominance made it difficult for Born to publicly present the satirical cartoons and caricatures at which he excelled. However, an exhibition and festival of humour at the end of the 1950s won acclaim for Born and his fellow-caricaturists. In the 1960s he began work on animated films, designing puppets and cartoon figures for several productions. This brought him considerable recognition and a successful career. In 1974 when he was acclaimed 'Cartoonist of the Year' at a major international exhibition in Montreal, he turned his interest again to cartooning and to his lithographic work.

He had already illustrated the work of Brecht, and offers to illustrate classic children's texts soon followed. These were very successful and many more children's books followed, but Born did not neglect his film and puppet work, and to both he continued to bring his clear eye for detail and his ability to see humour even in dark situations. His liking for paradox, exaggeration and absurdity is evident in whatever media he uses and his focus on his subject is always sharp and perspicacious.

His work has been exhibited extensively, and he has received many international awards both for his films and his books.