Pavel Hlavatý, Czech painter, graphic artist and art collector, was born in Albrechtice near Turnov in the far east of the Czech Republic. When he was seven his mother died, and he was sent to a children’s home in Turnov, then after the home was merged in 1952 he was brought up by his mother’s sister Eleonora Reslová in Liberec, then by his older sister in Nový Bor.

After attending grammar school for a year he switched to the State Art School of Doctor Zdeněk Nejedlý in Uherské Hradiště, where he studied the visual arts. As a graduate he began work as a building designer at Julius Fučík Mine in Petřvald, and rented a flat in the nearby city of Havířov. In the early 1960s he created illustrations for the satirical magazine Dikobraz (Porcupine) and Literární noviny (Literary News). The first time he exhibited his works was at the Young People’s Exhibition in Ostrava in 1968.

After the Warsaw Pact invasion of the Czech Republic in August 1968, Hlavatý actively helped organise the petition calling for the removal of Drahomír Kolder, co-author of the ‘letter of invitation’ on which pretext the Warsaw Pact armies had invaded the country, for which Hlavatý was charged with defaming a state official. He was also punished for creating the ‘anti-Soviet’ exhibition Protestkresby 68 (Protest Pictures 68). He fell ill with rheumatic fever while at the Heřmanice Correctional Facility in Ostrava-Hrušov, and as the illness was not addressed he spent another two months in hospital after his release. He never fully recovered from the damage caused by his illness.

He was barred from selling his work, and was not allowed to exhibit, teach, lecture or export his works, so he drew under various pseudonyms. However, he managed to keep his studio and his artist’s license, and with the help of friends was able to exhibit his works abroad. The state authorities allowed Hlavatý to travel outside the country quite often, apparently hoping that he would never return. He used this ‘grey period’ to hone his engraving skills, concentrating on small works that could be easily rolled up and transported.

In 1992, after the Prague Spring when the Czech Republic lifted remaining artistic restrictions, Pavel Hlavatý was at last able to show his work freely in his own country. He was named one of the most productive artists in Europe by the Belgian art organisation Grafia, and in the last twenty years has created more than eight hundred ex libris, dozens of larger engravings sheets, many posters, and has illustrated books by Shakespeare, Dostoevsky and Bosch. He also collects prints and graphics, and curates the DRIT Prague Graphic Collection, which organises regular exhibitions.

In 2021 Kompact produced a full-colour illustrated book about Hlavatý and his work. Titled Pavel Hlavatý: Tvorba 1964–2020 (Creations 1964–2020), it includes many examples of his work across graphics, bookplates, townscapes, cartoons and posters.

We are very grateful to our Russian friend Yuri for introducing us to the work of this artist, and for supplying most of the images.