The Czech artist Jaroslav Štika grew up in Prague, and on leaving school he studied for a year at the Akademie Výtvarných Umění (Academy of Fine Arts) in Prague with Jakub Obrovský, then at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. He worked in various advertising studios, producing advertisements, posters and illustrations.

Though he did sometimes paint portraits and landscapes, he is best known for his humorous portfolios of erotic drawings, for which he found a ready market, and his slightly risqué prints of Czech dancers, which sold well to tourists visiting Prague.

He died aged just 33, and it is intriguing to imagine where his talent would have taken him if he had lived to continue to explore the genre.

His brother Karel was also a well-known graphic artist.

Similar artists

Andu Avasilinei – Romanian-British illustrator of mythological and unidealised figures.
Marcel Chirnoagă – Romanian engraver and graphic artist of fantastical erotic subjects.
Vladimír Gažovič – Slovak printmaker of fantastic, allegorical lithographic realms.
Pavel Hlavatý – Czech printmaker of fantastical erotic and bookplate work.
Peter Kocák – Slovak engraver of refined erotic and bookplate subjects.
Oldřich Kulhánek – Czech graphic artist and printmaker of surreal figurative subjects.
Marius Liugaila – Lithuanian engraver of award-winning ex libris and graphic work.