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Luděk Pešek | |
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| Born | (1919-04-26)26 April 1919 |
| Died | 4 December 1999(1999-12-04) (aged 80) Stäfa, Switzerland |
| Citizenship | Swiss |
| Alma mater | Academy of Fine Arts, Prague |
| Occupation(s) | Artist, novelist |
| Known for | Representations of astronomical subjects |
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Luděk Pešek (26 April 1919 – 4 December 1999) was a Czech artist and novelist. He was noted for hisrepresentations of astronomical subjects. The asteroid6584 Ludekpesek is named after him.[1] He was influenced byLucien Rudaux.
Luděk Pešek was born in 1919 inKladno,Czechoslovakia, and grew up in the city ofOstrava. His boyhood was marked by the longing for mountains, and distant lands, laying the ground for his later interest in geology and astronomy. His potential artistic and literary talents were recognized early, and encouraged by his art teacher at grammar school. It was also on that occasion, that he first had the opportunity to use an astronomical telescope. At the age of fifteen, Pešek acquired a painter's easel, and began to practice his hobby earnestly. Later, he attended theAcademy of Fine Arts in Prague.
He produced his first art works around the age of 19. His first publications wereThe Moon and Planets (1963), andOur Planet Earth (1967). His work first reached US readers through theNational Geographic Magazine, which commissioned him to do a series of works aboutMars. Previous to the Mars article, he had painted 15 scenes for an article calledJourney to the Planets in August 1970. In 1967, Pešek wrote his first science-fiction novel,Log of a Moon Expedition, which he illustrated in black and white. Another,The Earth Is Near, wonPrize of Honour in Germany in 1971. It was published in the UK and United States in 1974. He illustratedSpace Shuttles in 1976. He worked with writerPeter Ryan on several slim books for children:Journey to the Planets (1972),Planet Earth (1972),The Ocean World (1973), andUFOs and Other Worlds (1975); he later worked with the same author on the large-formatSolar System (1978). He also illustrated the excellentBildatlas des Sonnensystems (1974), with German text byBruno Stanek.
From 1981 to 1985, he produced a series of 35 paintings onThe Planet Mars, and a series of 50 paintings,Virgin Forests in the USA, one of which can be seen on theEarth page.
He produced several 360-degree panoramas for projection in the domes of theplanetariums atStuttgart,Winnipeg andLucerne, and exhibited inWashington, D.C.,Boston,Nashville,Stuttgart,Bern, Lucerne,Zürich, and other venues. His work is in the collection of theSmithsonian Institution.
He died inStäfa, Switzerland.
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