About the project:
In 2023, we will be celebrating 95 years of the State Printing Works of Securities. Over those years, we have worked closely together with eminent fine artists and engravers such as Alphonse Mucha, Max Švabinský, Alois Mudruňka, Bedřich Fojtášek, Jindra Schmidt, Jaroslav Lukavský, Karel Čihák, Karel Hruška, Albín Brunovský, Miloš Ondráček, Oldřich Kulhánek and others. We have decided to dedicate the coming year’s calendar to selected engravers and to commemorate their creation of banknotes.
About the calendar
Since the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the designs of Czechoslovak and Czech banknotes and treasury bills have mostly been created by well-known designers and artists. They were then and are still now issued by the Prague printing works of banknotes and securities, today’s State Printing Works of Securities (STC), a state-owned enterprise that has always been able to rely on outstanding graphic artists and engravers who compare to the very best in the world. Engravings of portraits and guilloche elements have formed the main motifs of banknote design, and have also been essential security features. This year, we would like to present the work of engravers who collaborated for the printing works in the past, and whose work has formed the backbone of the creation process of Czech and Czechoslovak banknotes. Karel Wolf, Bohumil Heinz, Jindra Schmidt, Ladislav Jirka, Miloš Ondráček, Václav Fajt to name just a few. For the calendar, we have selected both well-known and lesser-known works by engravers Karel Wolf, Jindra Schmidt, Ladislav Jirka and Miloš Ondráček.
In the calendar (CZ, EN) you will find:
- Sketch of Jan Kupecký’s self-portrait drawn by Jindra Schmidt for backup engraving with the possibility of subsequent use for a banknote. Neither the sketch nor the engraving have ever appeared on a banknote.
- Graphic design and line drawing of the National Theatre building rendered by graphic artist Bedřich Fojtášek; reverse side of a CSK 5,000 banknote from 1945.
- Sketch of the statue of Bruncvík from Charles Bridge in Prague by Jindra Schmidt; obverse side of a 100 Protectorate crown note from 1940.
- Sketch of a portrait of Veruna Čudová by Jindra Schmidt based on the original by Josef Mánes; obverse of a 50 Protectorate crown note from 1944.
- Sketch of a period motif of the Hussite revolutionary movement from the Jena Codex by Miloš Ondráček based on a design by Karel Hruška; reverse side of the CSK 20 banknote from 1970.
- Line drawing of a motif of Hradčany by Miloš Ondráček based on a design by painter Albín Brunovský; reverse side of a CSK 100 banknote from 1989.
- Sketch of a figural motif by Karel Wolf based on a design by painter Max Švabinský; reverse side of an unissued CSK 5,000 banknote from 1935.
- Study sketch of a girl’s head by Ladislav Jirka based on the original by Karel Čihák. The sketch has never appeared on a banknote.
- Line drawing of Karel Wolf based on a design by Alphonse Mucha; reverse side of a CSK 50 banknote from 1929.
- Line drawing of a woman in a headscarf created by engraver Miloš Ondráček based on a design by Albín Brunovský; unissued CSK 500 banknote from 1990.
- Sketch of a portrait of Jan Žižka of Trocnov by Jindra Schmidt based on a design by Karel Svolinský; obverse side of a CSK 25 banknote from 1958.
- Line drawing of Děvín Castle drawn by Miloš Ondráček based on an original banknote design by painter Jaroslav Lukavský; motif from the reverse side of a CSK 500 banknote from 1973.
Buy a gift for yourself or your loved ones. This limited edition calendar, with just 50 production copies, is exclusively available from the STC e-shop.
