Grotesque Devouring Creatures
ca. 1920s

BIOGRAPHY

Albert Krehlik was born in 1871 in Bohemia and was raised in the village of Netunice, not far from the famous beer-brewing city of Pilzen in what is now the Czech Republic. While young, he apprenticed as a gunsmith and locksmith and traveled throughout eastern Europe. During his travels he learned to read and speak five or six languages. In 1891 he emigrated to the United States. Four years later he married Christina Mulak, who eventually bore him eight children. The family lived above a hardware store Krehlik opened in Cleveland, Ohio. The years from 1918 to 1925 were especially difficult: in this span of time Krehlik's wife and three of their children died of tuberculosis. He often turned to making art during this period. Once or twice a week, he would take day-trips away from the city to collect roots and bracket fungus which he later fashioned into clocks and sculptures. These often satirical works expressed his political and philosophical views. Krehlik was also an inventor and many of his works employ clockwork mechanisms of his own design. One of his patents, for adjustable automobile transmission bands, received a personal acknowledgment from Henry Ford. Krehlik died in 1939.

BOOKS

The End is Near! Roger Manley. Illustrated. Bio.