After studying with his brother, the artist Afro at the Scuola de Belle Arti in Venice, Florence and Milan, Mirko worked with Arturo Martini in Milan between 1932-34. In 1937 he visited Paris where he was exposed to the work of the cubists, an influence that is manifested in this piece. A whole room was devoted to him at the Venice Biennale of 1954 and in 1955 he was awarded the Grand Prix de Sculpture at the Sao Paolo Biennale.