Head
Artist
John Behan
(b. 1938)
Date1964
MediumLithograph on paper
Dimensions56.1 x 38 cm
ClassificationsPrint
Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery.
Donated by the Graphic Studio, Dublin, 1964.
© John Behan.
Object number1236
DescriptionThis is a four colour planographic print (lithograph) of a human head and shoulders. The head is looking out towards the viewer and slightly down. The main outline of the figure is in blue, with red for the cheeks, neck and mouth and the nose is orange. Around the nose is a light green colouring. The background is coloured orange, red and green and in certain areas the colours overlap. The technique employed by the artist has rendered the entire composition flat, and there is a great sense of the primitive combined with synthesised Cubism in the image.Behan, well known for his sculptures, undertook an apprenticeship in metal work and welding giving Behan the foundations for success, which began in the sixties, when he trained in London and Oslo and began to exhibit widely. But he also had a wider artistic vision, which saw him challenge the elitism of the art establishment and seek to popularise art. He was a founder member of the New Artists' group in 1962 and Dublin's innovative Project Art Centre in Dublin in 1967.
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John Behan
John Behan
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