Provenance

Small Red January 1973: 2 exemplifies Patrick Heron’s mastery of colour, space, and form. Created during one of the most dynamic phases of his career, this work belongs to the Small Red portfolio — a group of screenprints produced in collaboration with Kelpra Studios, London, who were instrumental in bringing Pop and Abstract British printmaking to international attention in the 1960s and ’70s.

Heron’s abstract compositions from this period are characterised by angular, interlocking shapes and vivid, high-contrast colours. Though non-representational, he often described these works as reflecting the fields, rivers, and coastline of his native Cornwall, seen from an aerial perspective. The flat planes of colour, layered with painterly precision, convey both landscape rhythm and formal harmony — qualities that made Heron a leading voice of the St Ives School alongside Ben Nicholson, Terry Frost, and Barbara Hepworth.

Beyond painting and printmaking, Heron was also an accomplished designer, creating stained glass windows for Tate St Ives and contributing designs for the Henry Moore altar at St Stephen Walbrook, London, further underscoring his wide creative range.

Heron’s work represents a key bridge between European modernism and post-war British abstraction. His screenprints from the 1970s are particularly sought after for their clarity of colour and compositional refinement. Produced in small editions and rarely appearing on the market, Small Red January 1973: 2 stands as an excellent example of Heron’s mature style and of the sophisticated collaboration between artist and printer that defined a generation of British printmaking.