Jan Krizek began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague – studies that were quickly interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. The young man explored a wide range of subjects on his own, from religious art to molecular physics, including architecture and anatomy. He emigrated to Paris in 1948, where he resumed his sculpting. Lacking resources, he used rubble he collected from construction sites. Jan Krizek was interested in archaic art, particularly Sumerian, Greek, Pre-Columbian, and Romanesque statuary, which he considered examples of artistic achievement. Jean Dubuffet discovered his sculptures and organized an exhibition in the basement of the Galerie Drouin in 1948. His works were also noticed by Surrealist circles and André Breton, with whom he maintained a brief correspondence.

Lacking the materials and space for sculpture, he continued his explorations through drawing and painting, using ink, gouache, and graphite. He depicted figures—often female—and faces with fleeting lines. In 1962, he was forced to leave Paris following a denunciation concerning his irregular immigration status in France. The shock of this event seems to have caused him to definitively abandon sculpture; Jan Krizek destroyed several pieces upon leaving Paris, but continued to draw studies for potential three-dimensional works.