Josef Herman, painter, in his studio, London.

Josef Herman (1911-2000), also known in Wales as 'Joe Bach' (little Joe), was a highly regarded Polish-British realist painter who influenced contemporary art, particularly in the United Kingdom.

He was among more than a generation of eastern European Jewish artists who emigrated to escape persecution and worked abroad.

Herman's central theme was working men, and having lived for eleven years within the coal mining community of Ystradgynlais in South Wales, he will probably be best remembered for his renderings of Welsh miners.

He created an extensive collection of African sculpture and his figure style was to some extent based on it.