Meet the illustrator Květa Pacovská 1928-2023

 “A picture book is the first art gallery a child visits.”

Květa Pacovská

“The placing of colours one over the other. It depends on the relation, proportion, rhythm, size, amount and how we place colours together. It is like music. Each individual tone is beautiful by itself and in certain groupings we create new dimensions, harmony, disharmony. Symphonies, operas. And books for children.”

Books illustrated by Květa Pacovská really appeal to me - they are so very different from picture books we see in Australia. I had a few of her books in my former library including the intriguing Little Match Girl but sadly the staff member who replaced me disposed of every one of her books - this made me very sad. 

Here is the IBBY post about Květa This image is one we all associate with IBBY and it was created by Květa Pacovská.

Květa Pacovská born in 1928 in Prague, Květa Pacovská graduated from the Prague School of Applied Arts, where she studied Czech modernism and was introduced to the European avant-garde. Her work merges the aesthetic traditions of children’s book illustrators with influences from modern artists, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró. She draws, paints, and creates collages in which she experiments with the links between image and text. In addition to illustrating nearly sixty books, Ms. Pacovská has held numerous one-women shows and regularly takes part in international art exhibitions. Fittingly, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for children’s book illustration in 1992.

Here is a Pinterest collection with over 300 images by Květa Pacovská.

Cinderella

Hansel and Gretel

The Little Match Girl

Here is a page from The Little Match Girl

Here is a list of some books in English by Květa:

• One, Five, Many (1990) 
• Midnight Play (1994) 
• Flying (1995) 
• The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen (2005) 
• Unfold/Enfold (2005) 
• The Little Flower King (2007) 
• The Sun Is Yellow (2012) 
• Number Circus 1-10 and back Again (2012)

Awards

• 2008 Golden Ribbon Award, Czech section of IBBY
• 2008 Le Prix du plus beau livre Francois 2008 for a book《A l’infini》, Paris, France))
• 2006~7 The Golden Illustrator, APIC, Barcelona, Catalunya
• 2001 The Sankei Children’s Books Culture Award, Paper City, Tokyo, Japan
• 2000 Grand Prix, Mobius international des Multimedias Competition for CD-ROM Alphabet, Paris, France
• 1998 Bologna Ragazzi Special Award
• 1997 Johanes Gutenberg Prize, Leipzig, Germany
• 1993 Graphic Prize Fiera di Bologna for Children
• 1992 The Hans Christian Andersen medal
• 1991 The Most Beautiful Books, Vienna, Austria
• 1965 BIB Grand Prix

Her book form is beyond the limit of a fixed book and print production. It suggests a new possibility of the book as an object which is three-dimensional and stimulates the senses. These books induce the instinct for play by using interesting materials such as Aluminium and tracing paper. These experimental books give children lots of possibilities to develop their imaginations and encourage their own creativity.

Take a look at Fishink to see more of her work.