Joan Miró

JOAN MIRÓ (Barcelona, 1893 - Palma de Mallorca, 1983).
"La femme du marin", from the series "People of the Sea".1981.
Aquatint, carborundum and drypoint in color on Rivas paper. Copy 18/60.
Signed with stamp in the lower right corner and numbered in pencil in the lower left corner.
Printed by Morsang.
Edited by Daniel Lelong, Paris, 1990.
Reference: Dupin, no. 1281.
Measurements: 69 × 43.5 cm (print); 104.5 × 78.5 × 4 cm (frame).

In "La femme du marin", Miró develops a composition of great graphic force, in which the language of the sign, the stain and the color reaches a fully mature intensity. The large black form, with a thick, gestural stroke, organizes the image like a totemic presence, while the accents of red, blue, green, yellow and pink introduce a vibrant and playful rhythm. The title, La femme du marin, introduces a poetic dimension linked to the maritime imagery of the series, where the figures seem to emerge between the human, the animal, the cosmic and the mythical.

Joan Miró trained in Barcelona, where he held his first solo exhibition in 1918 at the Dalmau Galleries. In 1920 he moved to Paris, coming into contact with the surrealist circle, where he developed his own language based on free association, memory and the irrational. His international recognition came soon: in 1928 the MoMA in New York acquired his works, and in 1941 he was the subject of a major retrospective.

Throughout his career he received important distinctions, such as awards at the Venice Biennale and the Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the Gold Medals of Fine Arts and the Generalitat de Catalunya. His work is now held in leading institutions such as the Joan Miró Foundation (Barcelona), the MoMA (New York), the Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid), the National Gallery of Art (Washington) and the Centre Pompidou (Paris).