Joan Miró

JOAN MIRÓ (Barcelona, 1893 – Palma de Mallorca, 1983).
“La femme du marin,” from the series “People of the Sea.” 1981.
Aguatinta, carborundum, and drypoint in color on Rivas paper. Edition 18/60.
Signed with a stamp in the lower right corner and numbered in pencil in the lower left corner.
Printed by Morsang.
Published by Daniel Lelong, Paris, 1990.
Reference: Dupin, no. 1281.
Measurements: 68.2 × 54 cm (image); 96 × 75 cm (sheet); 104.5 × 78.5 × 4 cm (frame).

In “La femme du marin,” Miró develops a composition of great graphic power, in which the language of the sign, the mark, and color reaches a fully mature intensity. The large black form, rendered with thick, gestural strokes, organizes the image like a totemic presence, while 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 series’ maritime imagery, where the figures seem to emerge from the realms of 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, where he came into contact with the Surrealist circle and developed his own artistic language based on free association, memory, and the irrational. International recognition came quickly: in 1928, MoMA in New York acquired works by him, and in 1941, it dedicated a major retrospective to him.

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