Igor Mitoraj — Portrait d'Homme (1984)

The Portrait d'Homme (Portrait of a Man) from 1984 is one of the rare moments in Mitoraj's oeuvre when he turned from mythology to direct portraiture. Unlike the Centurione, Persée, or Asclépios — all drawn from the classical tradition — the Portrait d'Homme is a specific, observed human face: intimate, unguarded, and devoid of the bandaging or fragmentation that characterises most of his work.

About the Portrait d'Homme

Mitoraj rarely made straightforward portrait bronzes. When he did, they carried the same gravitas as his classical fragments — but with an added quality of psychological directness. The Portrait d'Homme of 1984 shows a male head with quietly modelled features, in a warm medal (brown-gold) patina that recalls Roman portrait busts of the Imperial period. The signature is incised at the base. Edition of 1000.

The work appeared at Bonhams in June 2023 (Lot 316, Prints and Multiples sale) and has been noted in the Artsy auction database as a 1984 bronze, 14.5 × 7.0 × 5.0 cm, confirming its dimensions and dating. It is a desktop work — quietly powerful, and entirely unlike the more familiar mythological bronzes.

Dimensions & Identification

14.5 × 7.0 × 5.0 cm. Bronze, medal (warm brown-gold) patina. Signed at the base. Edition of 1000. No base is standard — the portrait sits directly on its own cast base.

Market Value

The Portrait d'Homme is a niche piece within Mitoraj's catalogue — less immediately recognisable than the Centurione or the torso series, but desirable to serious collectors for its rarity as a non-mythological subject. This is a niche piece within Mitoraj's catalogue, desirable to serious collectors for its rarity as a non-mythological subject. I buy privately, simply and directly.

Portrait as an Exception

To understand why the Portrait d'Homme is unusual, it helps to understand what Mitoraj normally refused to do. He almost never made portraits in the conventional sense — a specific, identified individual rendered in likeness. His subjects were mythological, archetypal, or abstract: Perseus, Icarus, Eros, the anonymous soldier, the veiled head. The Portrait d'Homme (1984) departs from this rule. It is a specific face — observed, modelled with psychological attention, and given only the generic title "Portrait of a Man" rather than a mythological name. This anonymity is itself a statement: the face is particular, but its identity is withheld.

The medal patina — a warm bronze-gold tone that references the tradition of commemorative portrait medals — reinforces the work's connection to portraiture as a genre. Portrait medals were the Renaissance and Baroque method for immortalising specific individuals in metal. Mitoraj's use of medal patina on a portrait head is a deliberate quotation of this history.

The Bonhams Sale and Market Position

The Portrait d'Homme appeared at Bonhams London in June 2023 (Prints and Multiples, Lot 316), confirming its presence in the international secondary market. The work's dimensions — 14.5 × 7.0 × 5.0 cm — and edition of 1000 are documented in the Bonhams catalogue entry and the Artsy auction database. The Prints and Multiples category at Bonhams targets a collector base that values Mitoraj's graphic and multiple work alongside his monumental sculpture, and the Portrait d'Homme sits naturally in this context.

As a non-mythological subject, the Portrait d'Homme appeals to a slightly different collector profile than the Centurione or Persée series: those interested in Mitoraj's range as an artist, in the portrait tradition within contemporary sculpture, or in the quieter, more intimate registers of his practice. This niche quality makes it particularly desirable to comprehensive collectors.

Photograph Pending

A dedicated photograph of this piece from the collection will be added shortly. In the meantime, the Persée bronze shown above provides reference for the quality of Mitoraj's bronze casting and patination in the same period.

See also: Centurione series · Prométhée (Artcurial, ed. 8) · All bronzes wanted