Born on May 29, 1919, Otto Mizera attended the Royal Grammar School in Libni, graduating in 1938. That same year, he met Zdeněk Lorence, a future member of the surrealist group Ra. Together, they traveled to France to study at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, but their plans were interrupted by the closure of Czech universities under the Nazi occupation. In 1939, they founded the Green Rose Theatre, which operated only briefly.
Following these events, Mizera worked in publishing at Topič and became a librarian. Between 1940 and 1942, he studied figurative drawing and portraiture at the Mánesa school under Vladimír Sychra. During this period, he joined the surrealist group Ra and published his collection in 1942.Torn Dolls, testifying to his artistic and literary commitment.
After the war, he enrolled in architecture in 1945 but quickly abandoned this path. In 1946, he visited Paris and decided to settle there in 1947. In the French capital, he devoted himself exclusively to fine arts. His style, deeply influenced by the Cubist period of Pablo Picasso, retains a strong surrealist imprint, marking his artistic singularity.
Otto Mizera took his own life on October 21, 1958. His legacy remains that of an artist who combined surrealism and cubism in a personal and striking body of work, still recognized today for its richness and singularity.
