Kopf

Influential works are myriad, but a selection of his best include Portrait of Vincent Nubiola, The Farm, The Tilled Field, The 'Blue' series of paintings and a sculpture in his home city of Barcelona called Dona i Ocell, which is striking to say the least.

He was part of the Parisien counter culture of the 1920s and you can tell he was contemporary with artists such as Picasso & Salvador Dali. Kopf is also stunning. Deeply surreal & deeply red it is highly memorable. His work has a great impact on you. There is subtlety in his work, but there is always impact and boldness. It is primarily red and appears to be a portrait, although that cannot be guaranteed in surrealism. There is an eye, looking down, a nose pointing to the left, and three hairs (similar to cartoons). There appears to be only eight colours in the entire piece. Red, Black & white dominate.

The title is not explained in many reference works, but it is the German word for 'head', which would make perfect sense. Miro worked in the abstract, but never as far as Mondrian for example. He was deconstructing something real, making you think about the form. Miro planned his works more than most surrealists and Kopf appears to have some geometric design involved especially in the red circles that dominate the painting. Miro was part of the Fauvist movement and that is characterised by his strong sense of colour. This is one of the best examples in his collection. Miro died in 1983 aged 90. He worked till at least aged 85 and his work is a vast collection. He will continue to enchant & beguile generations of art lovers. Kopf is one work that will live on.

Joan Miro was a Spanish Painter, sculptor & Ceramist born in Barcelona in 1893. He was a key figure in the Surrealist movement & also a key figure in Catalan nationalism. He died in 1983 and is a revered national icon in Spain and respected throughout the world. He was influenced by Vincent Van Gogh & Paul Cezanne but he in turn influenced contemporary artists like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock & Robert Motherwell.