Work of Famed Czech Artist & Wentworth Educator on Display

An early-20^th century artist who taught visual design at Wentworth Institute of Technology and later became a part of the anti-Nazi resistance is the subject of an exhibit currently on display in the Center for Engineering, Innovation and Sciences.

A Czech typographer, printmaker, designer, illustrator, painter and teacher, Vojtěch Preissig was known early for his Art Nouveau style. Born in 1873, he studied applied industrial art and architecture before publishing a periodical and opening his own graphics studio. He eventually traveled to America, where he was an educator at Columbia University in 1912 and then Wentworth in 1916.

Preissig taught typesetting, art history, layout and composition, color theory and “several other fundamental design concepts that are still current in the visual design courses of the Industrial Design program,” said Carlos Villamil, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture and Design.

Villamil curated the installation in CEIS—The “Graphic Universe of Vojtěch Preissig”— in conjunction with the Schumann Library, scanning original printed material from the Library’s archive and creating reproductions of different Preissig pieces, including catalogues, booklets and postcards. He also designed, printed and mounted the panels on display, and created custom holders, a record jacket and label model for the show.

“I wanted people to see real examples of the Printing Arts Department material from about a hundred years ago, but exposing original documents to direct sunlight was not a good idea and that is why I decided to make the reproductions,” he said.

Preissig would eventually move toward more political and military imagery in his career. He designed recruitment posters for the United States during World War I and later moved back to Europe in the 1930s. He joined the anti-Nazi resistance in 1939 and published an illegal magazine, V BOJ (“In the Fight”), with his daughter, journalist Inka Bernášková. Both were captured and ultimately killed by Nazis in the 1940s.

Preissig’s influence looms large in today’s Wentworth academics, as well as in new materials featured in the CEIS exhibit. Current Industrial Design students were asked to create original works “related to the fundamental and universal design principles used by Preissig, applying these concepts in contemporary visual language.”

“One of the most important aspects of the exhibit is the parallel between the graphic arts heritage of Wentworth, represented in the figure and work of a world class artist like Preissig, and some universal visual design principles that graphic design courses in the Industrial Design program still study and apply,” said Villamil.

Villamil further describes design principles and themes such as contrast, hierarchy and typography within the exhibit, allowing visitors to directly draw such connections.

“I'm very proud of this exhibition. It's the result of several months of work conducting research and collaborating with members of the library staff and the Industrial Design faculty,” he said. “I'm especially proud of the work that students did in the Advanced Graphic Design course this past summer.”

“The Graphic Universe of Vojtěch Preissig is currently on display in the lobby of the Center for Engineering, Innovation and Sciences until February 23, 2021. More information and imagery can be found at the Schumann Library blog site.