ARCO 2013

The Catalan Peasant Coincidence

I was slightly nervous as I handed my history professor an essay titled “Miró and his Catalan Peasants” because the assignment concerned the book War, Agriculture and Food: Rural Europe from the 1930s to the 1950s.  Although I assumed that my professor would not be particularly amused, I somehow managed to find a way to talk about the book and art.  To my great surprise, when I told him about my paper his mouth dropped.  He hurried into his office and quickly returned carrying something close to his chest.  When he showed me the small painting of his six-year-old son, I could not believe my eyes.  This precious painting that hangs in my professor’s office is an imitation of Miró’s 1925 Head of a Catalan Peasant, the primary focus of my paper.  I was elated to see this adorable painting and eager to show my professor the original, which he admitted he had never seen before.  What an unexpected coincidence that made my day!