In 2010 this exceptional publication, which subsequently won several prizes, was published for the first time and the entire edition quickly sold out. It may have been influenced by the fact that this monograph on the toy designer LIBUŠE NIKLOVÁ from the author Tereza Bruthansová accompanied three exhibitions - in Zlín, in Prague at the Museum of Decorative Arts and in Paris at the Department of Decorative Arts at the Louvre. In the Czech Republic it was awarded the prize of the Most Beautiful Book of 2010 and two years later it won a bronze medal as the Most Beautiful Book in the World in a prestigious international competition in Leipzig. The American MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art) used it as a source of inspiration for their major exhibition Century of the Child and Libuše Niklová is also represented in their current exhibition Designing Modern Women 1890 – 1990. It has travelled all the way to South Korea and Japan. It was available on British Amazon. Unfortunately, all this happened at the time when remaining stock of the book LIBUŠE NIKLOVÁ were scarce. Finally, this summer the on-going efforts to re-publish the book came to fruition. With support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, „home“ company Fatra Napajedla a.s., town of Napajedla, Barum Continental and Forge Viva, this technologically challenging, bilingual publication was successfully published for the second time. It has come at a very appropriate moment, in the time when Fatra Napajedla a.s., the factory in which Libuše Niklová worked for most of her professional career, for the first time presents itself at Prague Designblok.

The official book launch took place on 10th October 2013 in the Superstudio at Designblok’13, concurrently with a re-edition of Libuše Niklová’s toys and new designs by contemporary designers Anna and Jerry Koza, Jan Čapek and Zuzana Lednická.

The monograph will be distributed by Kosmas book wholesalers and can also be ordered by emailing: info@taktum.cz.

Tereza Bruthansová is an art historian, curator, journalist and author of books on design. For a long time she has been interested in the art work of Libuše Niklová and together with Niklová’s son, the artist Petr Nikl, is one the few people who own a collection of toys by this popular designer and are well informed about her art work. Libuše Niklová’s monograph is not only a beautiful book but also a valuable document, bringing together all that this unique designer created. “The second edition was not driven solely by demand, although there has been a continuing interest in this book, both locally and abroad, and it completely sold out long ago; but especially because owing to Fatra and certain private collectors, we have discovered, since the time of its first publication, some new facts as well as number of toys which we previously knew only from black and white photographs. We were able to make photo documentation and include it in the book. These are, for instance, her early rubber toys, such as the Elephant or Libuška, and many inflatables, including the Caterpillar and Little Horse, which has been re-introduced into the Fatra’s product range. I have also updated the monograph with information on a touring retrospective exhibition which we showed in Zlín, Prague and Paris and included details of a permanent exhibition about Fatra in the Napajedla Town Museum which opened in June this year. The new edition is complete with a double page on Fatra and new toys made by Czech contemporary designers continuing in the tradition of Mrs Niklová’s art work.”    The graphic design of the book was made by Zuzana Lednická from Studio Najbrt who also designed packaging for the re-edition of toys. She also contributed to the design of a new exhibition by the designer Niklová in Napajedla and created multi-coloured and black and white designs for a collection of inflatable balls (which will be on sale at Designblok).

• Published by Taktum s.r.o.
• Author : Tereza Bruthansová
• Graphic design: Zuzana Lednická (Studio Najbrt)
• Year of publication: 2013
• Number of pages: 300
• Number of illustrations and supplements: 490
• Format: 205 x 195 mm
• Binding: V8
• Number of copies: 1500
• ISBN: 978-80-260-4827-5
• Recommended price (incl. VAT): 790 CZK