Joan Miró

JOAN MIRÓ I FERRÀ (Barcelona, 1893 – Palma de Mallorca, 1983).
“The Tapestry of Tarragona,” 1972.
Artist’s book with ten color lithographs.
H.C. copy, numbered and signed in pencil by Joan Miró.
Texts by Rafael Orozco, Maria Lluïsa Borràs, and Josep Royo.
Published by Sala Gaspar, Barcelona. Printed by Publicaciones Reunidas, Barcelona.
Measurements: 29 x 22 cm.

Published in 1972, “El tapís de Tarragona” documents the beginning of the decisive collaboration between Joan Miró and textile artist Josep Royo. The project had begun in 1969 and culminated the following year with the large “Tapís de Tarragona,” created as a token of gratitude to the Red Cross Hospital in Tarragona for the care provided to the artist’s daughter following a serious accident. The work was exhibited at Sala Gaspar in 1970 and is currently on loan to the Museu d’Art Modern de Tarragona.

The volume translates the intense color palette and repertoire of symbols from Miró’s universe into the language of lithography, combining large swaths of red, blue, green, and yellow with bold black lines. The compositions are largely spread across double-page spreads, establishing a direct dialogue with the scale and structure of the tapestry. The texts by Orozco, Borràs, and Royo further contextualize the work within Miró’s creative process and his experimentation with the medium of textiles.

Joan Miró was one of the leading figures in 20th-century art, playing a decisive role in the renewal of Surrealism and the development of subsequent abstract languages. His first major museum retrospective took place at MoMA in New York in 1941; in 1954 he won the Grand Prize for Printmaking at the Venice Biennale, and in 1958 the Guggenheim International Award for his ceramic murals commissioned by UNESCO. His work is widely represented in major international collections, and since 1975, Barcelona has been home to the Fundació Joan Miró.