Joan Miró

JOAN MIRÓ I FERRÀ (Barcelona, 1893 – Palma de Mallorca, 1983).
“La nuit étroite,” 1973.
Aquatint print, print no. 29/50.
Signed and numbered by hand.
Certified on the reverse.
Measurements: 68.5 x 19 cm (print); 90 x 40 cm (paper); 65 x 115 cm (frame).

“La nuit étroite” brings together some of the most recognizable features of Joan Miró’s style: the transformation of the figure into a symbol, the intensity of the colors, and the creation of a poetic universe in which characters, stars, and organic forms coexist. The lines break free from naturalistic representation and take on a life of their own, suggesting bodies and movements through a seemingly spontaneous visual language. Against the black background, the white strokes and chromatic accents take on a special luminosity, reinforcing the cosmic and dreamlike dimension of the composition. The coexistence of recognizable forms and abstract elements echoes Miró’s artistic language, which is capable of transforming simple motifs into images open to multiple associations. The distinctly vertical format accentuates the stylization of the figures and the rhythm of the marks, while the texture of the aquatint lends a material quality that enriches the expressive power of the work as a whole.

Joan Miró trained in Barcelona, attending both the Escuela de la Lonja and the Academia Galí. As early as 1918, he held his first exhibition at the Galerías Dalmau in Barcelona. In 1920, he moved to Paris and met Picasso, Raynal, Max Jacob, Tzara, and the Dadaists. There, under the influence of Surrealist poets and painters, his style began to mature; he sought to transpose Surrealist poetry into the visual realm, drawing on memory, fantasy, and the irrational. In 1924, he signed the first Surrealist manifesto, although the evolution of his work—which was too complex—prevented him from being classified within any specific orthodoxy. He returned to Spain in 1941, and that same year, the museum dedicated a retrospective to him that would mark his definitive international recognition. During the 1950s, he experimented with other artistic media, such as engraving, lithography, and ceramics. From 1956 until his death in 1983, he lived in Palma de Mallorca in a sort of self-imposed exile, even as his international fame grew. His work can be viewed at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona, which opened in 1975, as well as in major contemporary art museums around the world, such as the Thyssen-Bornemisza, MoMA in New York, the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the National Gallery in Washington, and the MNAM.