From Zálesní Lhota to Brussels, Montréal and Ottobeuren

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Rudolf Mejsnar was born on 11 April 1928 in Zálesní Lhota in the Podkrkonoší region, which at that time was populated by a mixed, predominantly German population. He originally wanted to become a photographer; however, due to the sudden death of the owner of the photography studio where he was to work, he enrolled in the weaving school in Jilemnice in 1943. As a secondary school student he already worked as a part-time draughtsman in the Tiba factory. He completed his secondary education at the Brno School of Art Crafts, then continued his studies at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM). From 1956 he worked at Textile Production (Textilní tvorba, from 1959 called the Institute of Furnishing and Clothing Culture), and in the mid-1960s he got a job as a designer at the Hedva company in Moravská Třebová, but he had a detached workplace in Prague. In 1979 he went freelance. He represented Czechoslovakia with his prints at world exhibitions in Brussels and Montréal. His works are included in the permanent exhibition of the Erich Schickling Art Gallery in Ottobeuren, Bavaria.