From posters to Pilsners: New doc is a crash course in Czech graphic design

The names Alfons Mucha or Ladislav Sutnar might ring a bell to more than one. Brands like Baťa and Pilsner Urquell may be no strangers to your fridge or wardrobe. And you might have already walked the paved streets of Litomyšl, Zlín, or Plzeň.

The common denominator is their first-hand role in bringing Czech-made graphic and visual design out of anonymity and skyrocketing it to world-class fame.

Out in cinemas on Oct. 10, IDENTITA: A film about Czech graphic design is a deep dive into over a hundred years of Czech visual mastery, on a journey that spans New York to Prague and the far corners of Bohemia and Moravia.

The first feature film of Czech directors Kateřina Mikulcová and Petr Smělík, the documentary is narrated by Nicholas Lowry, an American with Czech roots, whose ancestors founded Primeros rubber and condoms company. Lowry, an avid collector of Czechoslovak art, and director of the NYC-based Swann Auction Galleries, talked to Expats.cz about making the film and Czech contributions to design on a world scale.

The project officially launched last January, with the airing on Czech Television of a seven-episode TV show – now available to stream – on the history of Czech design and domestic visual identity.

“The creators also wanted to appeal to a more international audience,” explains Lowry, who, due to his decades-long expertise in Czech design, Bohemian family roots, and extensive filming experience, was approached by the team.

Lowry, who has appeared on the U.S. television series Antiques Roadshow appraising collectibles and vintage posters, told us: “I took a screen test, and I guess I passed. I was hired on the spot.”

Hailing from a family of antiquarians, with a father born in Prague in the 1930s, Lowry later moved to Prague, where he lived for several years right after the Velvet Revolution. That’s when he started collecting historical Czechoslovak posters – which he now boasts is the most extensive collection outside of the one held in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (UPM) – a passion that led to a few dedicated exhibitions from Iowa to the Netherlands.

After kicking off filming in New York, Lowry and the entire crew traveled to Czechia and across the countryside, from the cobblestoned streets of Prague to traditional folk fairs in southern Moravian villages, unearthing the places, companies, traditions, craftspeople, and artists who for over a century have defined Czech visual identity – to Czechs themselves, and the whole world.

“What’s special about Czech design, in the broadest sense, is simply that it’s so good coming from such a small country. The output is quite impressive,” Lowry tells us, citing the ubiquitous Art Nouveau icon Mucha to the interwar avant-garde artists to today’s new generation of designers.

What are the best criteria to assess the significance of Czech design across the ages? “It resonates so much that even the uninformed will have seen examples of Czech-made visual designs. You know, but don’t necessarily know that you know,” he says.

Putting the city or country code of a telephone number in parentheses? Czech. Orientation marks used in hiking trails? Czech. And more.

“Everybody loves good design, but no one knows much about it,” Lowry says, and IDENTITA aims to show that large parts of our lives, from significant moments to the most inconspicuous details, are ruled by visual artists and creatives of all kinds.

While brought to the screens as an exploration of the vast history and universe of Czech esign – from banknotes to book production or typography to wine labels and motion animation techniques – for Nicholas Lowry, the film is also a journey back to his roots.

“My Bohemian identity wears different hats,” he tells Expats.cz, evidently thrilled to return to Prague for the movie’s premiere in a month.

In addition to the TV show and feature-length documentary, IDENTITA includes a forthcoming exhibition at the Kampa Museum in Prague and an accompanying monograph book.