Tête de femme

Executed in 1967, Tête de femme belongs to Miró’s late, exuberant phase, when gesture, scale and material freedom converge with remarkable force. Here, the figure is distilled to a sweeping calligraphic presence - bold arcs of black ink suspended within a field animated by splashes, stains and atmospheric bursts of pigment. Miró’s language at this moment is radically liberated: drawing becomes action, and the image emerges as much from instinct as from design.
Such works were influential on the generation of Abstract Expressionists, who recognized in Miró’s spontaneous mark-making a precedent for their own embrace of gesture and psychic immediacy. Yet Miró retains a distinct lyricism, anchoring abstraction to the poetic suggestion of a head, a presence, a being.
The impressive scale, unusual for works on paper, amplifies its physical and visual impact. Acquired from Pierre Matisse Gallery in the year of its execution, it has remained in the same family ever since.