Czech-American art has been augmented by a new unit, a young artist to whom connoisseurs and mature professionals predict a brilliant future. The interesting feature of this news item lies in the fact that the young artist in question was, so to say, an unknown quantity recently. A few cartoons published last week in the Chicago Herald attracted city-wide attention to him. A great wealth of contents and depth of thought are conceded to the drawings. They are in line with the high class cartoons for which the newspaper has been long known. We are noticing our fellow-countryman's cartoon daily, it appears on the first page. We share the public's interest in it, so much more because the originator is one of us, a Czech-American, and sincere friend of our old homeland. His name is Ottakar Valasek.

That he is a faithful Czech is evident from his work. We paid a visit to his 2studio on the seventh floor of the Baltimore Building on Quincy Street. We found Mr. Valasek in company of his brother, Emil, who is by profession a chemical engineer, but immensely interested in Ottakar's artistic achievements.

In informing us of his activity prior to his engagement with the Chicago Herald, Mr. Valasek declared that he had found himself unable to continue to work for the Examiner, for which paper he was under contract to furnish one cartoon a day because he was asked to give his cartoons a pacifistic hue. This was against his better conviction which dictated to him to side with the Allies. He changed to the Chicago Herald where he was allowed to give full artistic expression to his sentiment. His contract with the Chicago Herald was made after he had drawn a cartoon for that paper. It is reprinted on the first page of this issue. [The cartoon shows Lucifer gazing into a mirror, which reflects the likeness of the German Kaiser. It is captioned "From the Gallery of Shame", and appeared in the Chicago Herald issue of August 27,1917.]

Asked where he had studied, Mr. Valasek answered that life itself was his teacher. He was born in a village near Pardubice, Bohemia, the son of a farmer; he is now 32 years of age. He went to the public schools, then enrolled in the "Realka" [school preparatory to higher engineering schools]. There his progress stopped after the fifth grade. He did not pass in history, although this had been a favorite subject to him. His was a spirit which would not submit to the teaching of history as required in Austria-Hungary; The school authorities finally expelled him from this particular school, and informed him that he would be barred from all the schools of Austria-Hungary, this was a consequence of his utterances which breathed freedom from autocracy. He was too smart for his professors. Austria wants no smart boys and men; it wants obedient ones. His father did not think his son's expulsion so serious a matter as to punish him; he let the boy go to foreign lands. Young Valasek went to Poland and Russia, then back home. Not being inclined to start as a farmer, he finally decided to go to the United States. He thirsted for freedom and knew where to find it.

He came to Chicago directly from Europe; this was fourteen years ago. He did various kinds of work, but mostly he devoted himself to drawing upon which he had set his hopes. He did not guess wrong. Right in the beginning of his artistic career we find him a member of the club Mikulas Ales (Alexander Milailas).....His father and his brothers became victims of the World War, and of Austrian tyranny, in various ways....

Mr. Valasek married a woman of English descent here, with whom he lives on the Northside.

Of his art, Mr. Valasek spoke in terms of modesty. Outside of his regular work for his paper, he is about to start on a series of cartoons, the first of which will be named "Earthly Reptiles." He is also active as an illustrator, and is much in demand by publishers, among them those of the books "Robinson Crusoe" and "Golpher's Magazine."