
Ján Lebiš
Biography
Ján Lebiš was born on the 1st of June 1937 in the town of Moravský Krumlov in Moravia. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, the Printmaking and Book Illustration Department under the supervision of Professor Vincent Hložník. He died on the 9th of October 1996 in Bratislava.
Illustration Features
His focus was on the printmaking and from 1955 also on the illustration for children. Beside that, he worked as a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. In his illustrations is most commonly used the technique of pastel drawings. His work is a combination of the expressiveness of the print with lyricism and poetry of the illustration. The influence of the folk wood cut is observable mainly in printmaking techniques (especially woodcut and wood engraving) he used in his illustrations, produced in black and white. These were the illustrations, when figures and objects had got very robust shapes. Coloured illustrations are made with a great sensitivity, so even the combination of very rich colours did not suppress the overall harmony of the scene. The main motive, which is prevailingly a human figure, dominates in the first plan of his illustrations and its background is filled with a number of other figures and objects with every detail well thought out. His illustrations contributed to the text of the book making it better understandable for the young reader.
Author of the text: Mgr. Viera Anoškinová, art historian
Bibliography of Illustrated Books for Children and Youth
Čítanka pre 4. ročník osobitných škôl (A. Čimová, SPN 1956, 1961, 1963); Gulliverove cesty (J. Swift, SNDK 1956, Mladé letá 1967, 1969, 1981); Prípad „Tubercilín“ (R. Moric - I. Vaňo, Mladé letá 1957); Námestie svätej Alžbety (R. Jašík, Mladé letá 1958); Škovránčia pieseň (P. Štefánik, Mladé letá 1958); Poviedky z jedného i druhého vrecka (K. Čapek, Mladé letá 1958); Janko, Belko - kamaráti (V. Kovácsová, Slovenské vydavateľstvo krásnej literatúry 1959); Svätý Duch (J. Kalinčiak, Mladé letá 1959); Cesta ide ďalej (A. J. Bruštejnová, Mladé letá 1959, 1970); Slnečný kúpeľ a iné poviedky (J. Jesenský, Mladé letá 1960); Na svitaní (A. J. Bruštejn, Mladé letá 1960, 1971); A zasa preskakujem cez kaluže (A. Marshall, Mladé letá 1960, 1973, 1978, 1981); Poštárik (H. Križanová-Brindzová, Mladé letá 1961, 1974); Reštavrácia (J. Kalinčiak, Mladé letá 1961); Hop, čižmičky, sto míľ (Mladé letá 1962, 1966, 1977); Rozprávky (A. S. Puškin, Mladé letá 1962, 1986); Dúhová brána (A. J. Bruštejn, Mladé letá 1963, 1971); Havran a líška (Mladé letá 1964); Bájky (J. de La Fontaine, Mladé letá 1965); Zlatá jabloň a deväť pávov (V. S. Karadžić, Mladé letá 1965, 1971); Morský vlk (J. London, Smena 1965); Červená Čiapočka (M. Rázusová-Martáková, Mladé letá 1969); Dievčina s medenými vlasmi (Mladé letá 1969, Lidové nakladatelství 1972); Štastenko (Mladé letá 1970, 1983); Príhody tigríka Prúžika a leopardíka Škvrnku (B. Lenčová, Mladé letá 1972); O Haríkovi a Billovi, dvoch kamarátoch (R. Moric, Mladé letá 1973, 1979, 1988, Albatros 1976, 1984); Kto povedal mňau? (V. Grigorievič Sutejev, Mladé letá 1973, 1986); O psovi, ktorý mal chlapca (K. Jarunková, Mladé letá 1974); Maškarný ples a iné poviedky (J. Jesenský, Mladé letá 1975); Záležitosť mužov (J. London, Mladé letá 1975); O Tomášovi, ktorý sa nebál tmy (K. Jarunková, Mladé letá 1978, Mladinska knjiga 1982, Der Kinderbuchverlag 1982); Kazko Vlasko (A. Ferko, Mladé letá 1978); Kazko Vlasko a kráľ Času (A. Ferko, Mladé letá 1982); Jantáre starej mamy (A. Anisimová, Mladé letá 1982, 1983); O múdrom kohútikovi (V. Šikula, Mladé letá 1984); Kráľovič Marko (Mladé letá 1990).
Literature about the Illustrator
Čeští a slovenští ilustrátoři knih pro malé děti. Praha : Albatros - Bratislava : Mladé letá, 1980, s. 78-79.
KUBOVÁ, Matilda – CPIN, Peter: Tvorcovia detskej knihy. 3. dopl. vyd. Bratislava : Mladé letá, 1991. [75] l. ISBN 80-06-00319-X
Umenie pre deti. Edit. Mária Števková. Bratislava : Buvik, 1999. [88] l. ISBN 80-85507-87-0
Slovník českých a slovenských výtvarných umělců 1950 - 2001. VII. L - Mal. Ostrava : Výtvarné centrum Chagall, 2001, s. 93. ISBN 80-86171-12-4.
Viera Gergeľová. Ján Lebiš. Zohor : Virvar, 2017. 125, 129 s. ISBN 978-80-89693-11-5.
Awards for Illustrations
1963 Award in the Education and Culture Accredited Office Competition: Most Beautiful Books '62 for the book Rozprávky (Fairy Tales)
'Mladé letá' Publishing House Award 1962 for the book Rozprávky (Fairy Tales)
1966 'Mladé letá' Publishing House Award 1965 for the book Bájky (Tales)
Most Beautiful Czechoslovak Books '65 for the book Bájky
1970 Most Beautiful Czechoslovak Books '69 for the book Dievčina s medenými vlasmi (The Girl with Copper Hair)
1974 Most Beautiful Czechoslovak Books '73 for the book O Haríkovi a Billovi, dvoch kamarátoch (About Harry & Bill, the Two Friends)
1983 Most Beautiful Czechoslovak Books '82 for the book Kazko Vlasko a kráľ Času (Kazko Vlasko and the King of Time)
1984 Ľudovít Fulla Award for illustrations for children and youth
1985 Most Beautiful Czechoslovak Books '84 for the book O múdrom kohútikovi (About a Smart Rooster)
BIB Participation
1967, 1971, 1985, 1991
