Who drew us beautiful cars: 1908-1986, František Kardaus

The fact that there was (car) life on the planet before computers is proven not only by the good old - ECU-free - conventional petrol engines like the cars of the sixties, seventies and eighties, but also by the fact that even before computer graphics and AI, fantastic drawings and exploded views of cars and engines were produced in the trade press and on various advertising platforms, which, even today, stand the test of time. Alongside world-famous artists such as Terry Collins and Giorgio Piola, who worked in the West, our political landscape has also produced wonderful artists and works of art that are in no way inferior to their more famous Western counterparts.

First, we introduce the dedicated Skoda and Tatra cartoonist: František Kardaus-t. (1908-1986)

19-year-old Frantisek Kardaus, 1927 Image source: wikipédia

Kardaus was born on 25 March 1908 in Hořesedly, a small village about fifty kilometres from Prague. His father, Franz, was a postmaster, his mother a seamstress. He was brought up in the family with his two sisters and brother. From 1914 he was a pupil at the German Primary School in Kolešovice, and from 1924 to 1927 he worked as a full-time apprentice to the carpenter Hugon Hofrichter. By this time he was studying drawing and graphic arts with Aloise Mudruňky, a renowned teacher at the School of Applied Arts.

The family house in Kolesovice, where Kardaus completed his primary schooling.

In 1927 he spent a year in Berlin, working for Eduard Böhm & Társa.

From 1928 to 1934, the young Kardaus was in Paris, where he was apprenticed to the architect Leon Boue, with whom he worked as a painter, graphic designer, advertising and exhibition designer for clients such as Shell, Texaco, Mobiloil, Renault, Citroen, Gas de Paris, etc. While working, he studied at the Academie de la Grande Chaumière.

At the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, where Kardaus studied in the early 1930s

Kardaus in 1939 - Image source: wikipedia

In 1934 he returned to Prague and worked as an independent artist. By this time he was a regular prize-winner in various poster competitions and worked regularly for TATRA and ŠKODA, among others.

One of Kardaus' early Zbrojovka Z-5 advertisements from the 1930s - Image source: pinterest / Lee Roy Brown

In 1941, he spoke out against German aggression and was persecuted by the German authorities, from whom he fled to France. He was eventually forced to enlist in the Wehrmacht, from where he was sent to the Eastern Front as punishment. There he was captured by partisans, but was released thanks to his portraits of the resistance fighters. The Wermacht then sent him to Tuln, Austria, as a draughtsman at the airport meteorological station, from where he deserted with several other pilots during a leave of absence in Italy in 1945.

Skoda Popular-1100 advertising brochure from Kardaus in the 1940s - Image source: pinterest / S

After the war, in 1947, he worked as a graphic and industrial artist for the BaR advertising agency.

With the help of the BaR, he regained Czechoslovak citizenship and permanent residence in Prague on 21 May 1947 (his brother Josef left for the Federal Republic of Germany and his sisters Marie and Barbara for the GDR).

Poster of the XXVIII Prague International Motor Show from Kardaus - Image source: pinterest / Anatoliy Kotlinsky

Kardaus was known as "Kardoš" to his colleagues at BaR, and by this time he was working for TATRA, TESLA, MONO (a fashion magazine) and other national and state-owned companies. In the spring, they collaborated with Vladimir Popelář on the body designs for the new Tatra 107. His work included the front end, including the front doors, but after failing to reach an agreement with Popelář on the balance of the front and rear body panels, the rear end remained the Tatra design. The new car was to have been called Tatra AUTOPLAN, but thanks to Kardaus, it was eventually shortened to the better-sounding TATRAPLAN.

A nice work from Tatraplan - Image source: pinterest / Lee Roy Brown

In the same year, he contributed to the conversion of the T87 "Diplomat", the design of the T400 trolleybus, illustrated a book for the 50th anniversary of the Tatra and joined the Czechoslovak Artists' Association.

The renewed appearance of the T-87 Diplomat, in which Kardaus participated as a designer - Image source: koprivnice.org

1948: collaboration on the electric design of the T1.

With the merger of BaR and other Prague studios, the art and production cooperative PROPAGACNÍ TVORBA was formed, of which he remained a collaborator as a graphic designer and designer, but also worked for TESLA and others. He also has a close working and friendly relationship with František Viktor Sodoma (26.01.1917 - † 07.02.1997), also known as a musician and founder of the jazz club "Reduta".

Prototype of the T-1 tram from 1951 - Image source: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus

In 1953, Kardaus already had an artistic cooperation contract with the Heavy Engineering Development Company, which commissioned him to design electric carriages for the Prague "street railway".

1954: Collaboration on the development of the T3 tram and the T604 "Lidovka" (TATRA) people's car.

A test run of a TATRA T3 tram bearing the mark of Kardaus on Széll Kálmán Square in Budapest in 1975-76. - Image source: trams.hu

Sketches of the TATRA 604 "Lidovka" by Kardaus, which did not enter production - Image source: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus

1955-7 Collaboration on the Balm motor train design with the Research Institute for Railway Vehicles in Prague and Vagónka TATRA.

The BALM motor train - Image source: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus

Between 1955 and 59, in addition to his work in the automotive industry, he produced more than 30 film posters for the Central Film Lending Library, which are now part of the Terry Posters collection. He is a member of the "Purkyněi Artists' Association" and regularly participates in their exhibitions.

Poster of the 1957 film "At Midnight" by György Révész from Kardaus, with Eva Ruttkai and Miklós Gábor - Image source: www.terry-posters.com

1955 In March, he exhibits posters at the First National Exhibition of Applied Arts. In the spring he buys a house in the Velká Chuchli district of Prague with Věra Hauková, an official of the State Pension Office, and they marry in the autumn.

Another Kardaus poster, this time of Jawa - Image source: www.terry-posters.com

1956 "Slogans for the ŠKODA 440 Advertisement Collection", graphic design of an advertising manual for MOTOKOV, a foreign trade company, which used it for advertising at the London Motor Show and illustrating technical brochures. In order to standardise the design of the ŠKODA 440 advertising graphics, it was recommended to dealers as the primary promotional material.
In the same year, he designed the wing-shaped symbol of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which was used for many years in the printed material of the film festival.

Cover of the "Slogans for SKODA-440 advertising brochure" from Kardaus - Image source: flickr / Graphic and Industrial Design

1957 collaboration on the EM475.0 electric train project.

The EM475.0 electric commuter train - Image source: flickr / Photo album František Kardaus

Between 1957 and 1980, he worked as a commercial artist for a number of dealers and manufacturers - MOTOKOV, STROJEXPORT, MOTOTECHNA, PRAŽSKÉ KOMUNIKACE, STAROPRAMEN, AUTODRUŽSTVO, SMĚR.

An advert for MOTOTECHNA - Image source: pinterest / Lee Roy Brown

Kardaus, from 1958, was involved in the design of the prototype for the T401 series of trolleybuses, which Karosa built and tested on the streets of Prague, but which were never mass-produced. From the point of view of civil defence during the Cold War between the West and the East, conventional buses were more suitable than trolleybuses for evacuating the population in the event of a WMD attack. (Who would now think that such considerations influenced Karosa's decision to produce the ŠM 11, a V6 diesel-engined bus and not a trolleybus, between 1961 and 1981?)

Prototype of the KAROSA T-401 trolleybus from 1958 - Image source: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus

Between 1959 and '63, he created more of his iconic film posters, while also working on the Prague metro.

Poster for the film Nights of Cabiria from 1959. - Image source: www.terry-posters.com

Between 1964 and 67, he gives a number of industrial art lectures, works on the designs for the SM 487.0 tram and Tatra presents his designs for the metro to the public.

In the 70s, among his other works, he regularly worked on oil paintings of hockey players (Ivan Hlinka, Bobby Clarke, Jiri Bubla...), tennis players (Ivan Lendl, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors), basketball players (Boston Celtics vs Houston Rockets, ... ), which were sold on the market by the Arnot Gallery in New York, as an exclusive dealer.
In addition to painting, he designed military uniforms, organised exhibitions and helped to design various street art objects (rubbish bins, traffic control stations, etc.) for the city of Prague. For Minister Lubomír Štrougal, he created the unique interior of the Tatra 603 passenger car.

Cover of the Skoda-LIAZ S 100 brochure by Kardaus from 1974 - Image source: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus

1973 - Contribution to the electrical design of the four-axle KT4.

ČKD Tatra KT4 tram in Szeged (We bought them second hand from the Germans in 2003) - Image source: wikipédia / Mr. Furrier

1974 - External modification of the T 5 series standardised electric
1975 - Work on the design of the R1 metro.
1977 - New external design of the T5 series unified tram
1976 collaborates on the design of the M 475.0 motorised rail car

The old master, Frantisek Kardaus

1977.2.21. applies for admission to the Czech Fine Arts Fund (CFA).
1980 illustrates the promotional and informative brochure "METRO - the development of public transport in Prague", published by the Prague Metropolitan Transport Authority.

The house in the centre of Prague, on the top floor of which Kardaus worked for nearly forty years. - Image source: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus

On 7 January 1985 his wife, Věra Kardosova, died, and less than a year later - on 20 February 1986 - František Kardaus succeeded him.

The grave of Kardaus and his wife in the cemetery in Malvazinky - Image source: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus

After a truly eventful and creative life, Kardaus was laid to rest in plot BII, 418 of the Malvazinec cemetery.

His vast estate, managed by lawyer Dr Stanislav Myslil, was taken from the house in Velké Chuchle overnight, loaded onto lorries, and to this day there is no trace of it.

Kardaus was a great fan of classical music and radio, and played the piano himself. His favourite pastimes included walking through the streets of Prague, browsing antique shops and going on excursions. He was also a beekeeper. He is remembered by his acquaintances as a very good-humoured, cheerful man. Apart from his mother tongue, he spoke German and French, buttered honey buns were his favourite food and he smoked unfiltered cigarettes for the rest of his life.

Although his whole life revolved around vehicles, apart from a brief period he did not drive a car. (In the 1970s he was given an orange Wartburg Tourist as a gift, which he used briefly for his work - transporting various models.)

Gallery

(source of images: flickr / Fotoalbum František Kardaus)