Le Chanteur d’opéra

A bronze sculpture by Joan Miró, cast from an assemblage of found objects and finished with a rich green and ochre patina. The figure rises from an irregular, rock-like base, its body formed by an upright panel patterned with a grid of square tiles. A cast garment hangs in heavy folds across the front, while a long branch crosses horizontally behind it like outstretched arms, evoking the silhouette of a scarecrow. In place of a head, a slender, slightly curved rod rises upward, topped with a nail-like tip.

The work belongs to the sculptural practice Miró developed from the late 1960s onwards, when he gathered humble everyday objects, combined them into poetic personages and cast them in bronze. Each element is transformed yet still recognisable. The texture of the tiles, the creases of the fabric and the grain of the wood are all preserved in the metal.

The tension between the vertical rod and the horizontal branch reflects one of Miró’s recurring themes, the bond between the earth and the sky. The tiled panel and the rural echo of the scarecrow also recall the Mediterranean and Catalan landscape that remained central to his imagination.

The sculpture is presented on a white pedestal.