Milo, who was born Emil Halbheer in Koblenz, Germany in 1910, died in 1978 in Dietikon, Switzerland, leaving behind a comprehensive body of work.

At the age of twenty, Milo moved to his father's hometown of Zurich, Switzerland, and was educated as a painter and graphic artist at the School of Arts and Crafts, where his lecturers included Oskar Weiss, Oskar Dalvit and Franz Fromme.

In 1949 Milo opened a studio in La Garde-Freinet, France, where he made his home for the summer months. He was inspired by the wild beauty of the "Maures", a mountain range on the Cote d'Azur. Milo's frequent theme was the countryside in La Garde-Freinet with its ancient knotty chestnut, cork oak and olive trees, and these he painted to great effect with strong, lavish strokes of colour. His landscapes breathe southern heat: tremulous air makes walls and rocks glitter and disappear in the haze of a summer day.

In creating the urban motifs of Koblenz, his native town, Milo used southern colour and light effects; an atmosphere of serenity outlines these works of art, filled with expressive romanticism. An intensely creative artist who was intimately knowledgeable about his landscapes, Milo was a poet of nature who painted with light as well as colour. His numerous exhibitions met with steadily increasing success, and in 1970 he was granted the Gold Medal of the 'Grand Prix International de Provence'.

His technique is inspired by impressionism, from Fauvism with its landscapes full of burning colours to expressionism with its very metaphorical suggestions. With their common lyrical abstraction, Milo's works have much in common with the landscape presentations of Schmidt-Rotluff. Milo's compositions can also be associated with those of Paul Cezanne, the master of post impressionism.

Among the distinctive characteristics of Milo's work is the art of simplified reproduction of the subject by abstraction, while at the same time maintaining a well-balanced, harmonic composition. He shows a profound view of nature dominated by abundant colour, reminiscent of Pablo Picasso, an artist who in his later years also worked in Provence.

Milo's works are widely accepted and esteemed, as evidenced by numerous exhibitions in Switzerland, France, Germany and Canada - tributes to an artist whom the critics call the "worthy successor of Picasso".

Bel Art Gallery is proud to be the exclusive representative for Milo's paintings.