Japanese monster movies

X from Outer Space, poster by the most popular Czech comics artist Kája Saudek, 1971.

Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, poster by Miroslav Němeček, 1971.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, poster by František Kardaus, 1956, uses the symbol of the atom, the modern menace for mankind.

Posters borrowed with a kind permission from Terry Posters.

2001: A Space Odyssey

One of the few Western sf movies shown in the Czechoslovak movie theatres had been Stanley Kubrick´s 2001: A Space Odyssey. A poster from Dobroslav Foll, 1970.

Krakatit

Krakatit (1948, directed by Otakar Vávra) is the first Czech post-WWII sf movie and still one of the best. Karel Hoger, one of the best Czech actors, in the lead role is being seduced by devilish aristocrat in a 5-minute Czech movie clip.

Gennady Golobkov

Workers of Space

A squirrel from the Earth

In the park behind the 75th parallel

Gennady Golobkov (1935 - 1978), a self-taught artist, is an example of the lyrical pole of the Soviet space art. His artworks show a future mankind living in harmony with the conquerred space. Golobkov had been a paraplegic, so he let his soul to explore the limits of the humanity.

Private paintings

In the 1970´s Rotrekl had experimented with assamblages covered by transparent synthetic resins. They had never been shown on any art exhibition. This one from 1977 is called Birth of the Robots.

Painting/combined technique Gagarin, 1964.

During the preparatory works for the Planet Eden exhibition we discovered this large painting The Rocket from 1956, probably never shown before. It is arguably Rotrekl´s first science fiction artwork.

Silent Star (First Spaceship on Venus)

Teodor Rotrekl´s poster for East German sf movie Silent Star (also First Spaceship on Venus, Der schweigende Stern) from 1960.

Gagarin

Large model of the Vostok spaceship built on the new housing estate in the Czech town Příbram in the 1960´s. Later it had been destroyed.

Theodor Rotrekl: Gagarin. 1964.

Allegory of Yuri Gagarin´s flight at the 1st May celebration, Czechoslovakia, early 1960´s.

Envelope and stamps designed by Czech artist Cyril Bouda celebrating Gagarin´s flight.


Czechoslovak communists were always eager to show their appreciation of the Soviet Union. As a result of a direct order from the management of the Czechoslovak Radio, within two hours after the Gagarin´s flight Czech radio issued a brand new song for that occasion: "Salute to the Cosmonaut", better known as "Good Day, Squadron Leader Gagarin". (Music: Jaromír Hnilička, words: Pavel Pácl.) Although staged, this charming "music clip" made for Czechoslovak TV shows the spontanneous enthusiasm for Gagarin´s flight.

Andriy Sokolov

Artificial satellite of other civilisation

Artificial brain

The world of a double star

Saturn - on the Titan

The Moon

Andriy Sokolov (1931) had been the most spectacular Soviet space artist. He often collaborated with artist-astronaut Alexey Leonov. The pictures above come from a collection of postcards The Space Fantasy (Kosmitcheskaya phantasya, 1963) published with an introduction of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.