Jiří Načeradský studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts under Professor Vlastimil Rada. After graduation he received a scholarship for a study trip to Paris. He was banned from public activity in the 1970s and ’80s. In 1989 he was appointed head of the studio of monumental painting at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts and he also taught at the Faculty of Art of Brno Technical University. In 1991 he was appointed professor. Načeradský’s oeuvre is extensive. Throughout his career he was fascinated with the human body, which became the central theme of his works. At the end of the 1960s he was one of the main exponents of New Figuration. Works from the series Runners are now regarded as the most prized examples of the best of the art of the period. Around the mid-1970s Načeradský underwent a transformation with the introduction of geometrical influences and transmutations of figures. Mantises feature frequently in Načeradský’s art and he painted them at different periods with variations.