Bedřich Dlouhý studied at a specialist school of ceramics before continuing his studies at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts where his teacher was Miroslav Holý. While still a student he became a founding member of the Šmidrové art-happening group. In the early 60s he was influenced by art informel, but soon surrealist and symbolist references appeared in his oeuvre. His works combine caustic humour with a distinctive sense of the grotesque. He chiefly creates assemblages and complex combined shapes often placed under glass, thereby lending the work an unexpected and new dimension. Bedřich Dlouhý is also an excellent painter and draughtsman who often uses the virtuosic painting of the old masters in his complex technically combined works. The grotesque element usually goes hand in hand with technical perfection, which is combined with apparently absurd components that are ironical about the painting.