Joan Miró

JOAN MIRÓ I FERRÀ (Barcelona, 1893 - Palma de Mallorca, 1983).
"Gos i ocell" from the series "Homenatge a Gaudí", 1979.
Lithograph on Arches vellum paper, copy E.A.
Signed and justified by hand.
Edited by Galería Maeght, Barcelona. Printed by Litografías artísticas Damià Caus, Barcelona.
Illustrated in: CRAMER, Patrick. Miró Litographe. Vol VI. 1976-1981. Paris: Maeght Éditeur, 1992, p. 113.
Measurements: 44 x 64 cm; 84.5 x 106 cm (frame).

This lithograph belongs to the series Homenatge a Gaudí, made in 1979, one of the most significant graphic projects of Joan Miró's final stage, in which the artist pays tribute to Antoni Gaudí as a symbol of creative freedom, Mediterranean roots and rupture of conventional languages. In these years, Miró reached an extreme synthesis of his visual vocabulary, combining gestural spontaneity, primitive signs and a use of color of great expressive intensity.

Joan Miró was trained in Barcelona and made his debut in the Dalmau Galleries. In 1920 he moved to Paris, where he came into contact with Picasso and the Dadaist and Surrealist circles, a decisive context for the consolidation of his own language based on poetry, fantasy and the irrational. His international recognition came soon: in 1928 the MoMA in New York acquired his works and in 1941 dedicated a great retrospective to him, confirming his relevance in modern art.

Throughout his career he received numerous awards and distinctions and was named Doctor Honoris Causa by universities such as Harvard and Barcelona. Considered a key figure of surrealism and 20th century art, his work is part of the collections of major museums around the world, including the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona, the MoMA, the Reina Sofía Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the National Gallery in Washington and the MNAM in Paris.