Dimensions: support: 921 x 730 mm frame: 1220 x 1028 x 90 mm
Copyright: © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2014 | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Edouard Pignon's "The Miner," from the Tate collection. The palette is muted, and there's an interesting tension in the figure's gaze. What's your take on it? Curator: The fractured planes certainly reflect the harsh realities faced by miners, wouldn't you agree? It feels raw, honest, and undeniably melancholic. Pignon, bless his soul, really allows us to see the weight of their world, don't you think? Editor: Yes, I do! It's a heavy piece, but the brushstrokes almost give it a sense of movement. Curator: Exactly! The brushwork almost fights against the stillness. Editor: It's like the miner's spirit is restless. Curator: Precisely! Thanks, I hadn't quite put my finger on it.
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Pignon's father was a miner and he himself had worked down the pits as a young man in the Pas-de-Calais, France. In 1949-50 he made a series of paintings about the official suppression of strikes and demands for better working conditions. Although a Communist Party member, Pignon departed somewhat from the official Socialist Realist style. In his depiction of the man rolling a cigarette, for example, he employs a simplification that is indebted to Picasso. Gallery label, August 2004
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