(1938, Toveř u Olomouce) Painter, graphic artist, autodidact. Šnajdr studied the French horn at the State Conservatory in Brno (1962–1967). He was first encouraged to paint by his father, the painter František Šnajdr. He lives and works in Olomouc. From 1963 to 1965 he was a member of the Ohnisko (“Focus”) group of artists in Olomouc, and in 1989–1990 he was a member of the Association of Czech Fine Artists. In 2001 he was awarded the Michal Ranný Prize for his outstanding contribution to Czech art. His early work was influenced by modern Czech and international art (Picasso, Derain, van Gogh, Procházka, Gutfreund, Šíma). A turning-point in his career came when he saw an exhibition of South Bohemian gothic art and informel held at Hluboká in the 1960s. The exhibition had a powerful impact on Šnajdr’s artistic path. He began using décalque, scratching and roughening techniques, and he alaso explored Biblical themes. His work from this period was dominated by a sculptural approach to painting combined with an economical use of colour. In his cycles, Šnajdr looked back into the history of art and built his paintings on foundations taken from Italian Renaissance art (1960s/70s), El Greco, or (in the cycle Honours) the visual style of Gustav Klimt or Antonín Hudeček (around the turn of the new millennium). In the late 1980s and early 90s his work was characterized by a powerful expressivity in colours and forms. His late pieces worked frequently with natural motifs, which Šnajdr developed into abstract signs imbued with an intimate, fragile and spiritual atmosphere.