Lot 334
  • 334

Joan Miró

Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Joan Miró
  • Signes et figurations
  • Signed Miró (upper right); signed Joan Miró, titled and dated 19/12/35. (on the verso)
  • Watercolor and brush and ink on paper
  • 13 by 17 1/2 in.
  • 33 by 44.4 cm

Provenance

Galeria Elvira González, Madrid
Sale: Christie's, London, November 29, 1989, lot 554
Private Collection, Switzerland

Literature

Jacques Dupin & Ariane Lelong-Mainaud, Joan Miró, Catalogue raisonné. Drawings, 1901-1937, vol. I, Paris, 2008, no. 543, illustrated p. 263

Condition

This work is in very good condition. Executed on rough toothed cream wove paper. The sheet is affixed to a mat near all four corners. There is some slight staining to the extreme edges and a few pindot surface stains, othewerise the sheet is quite fresh.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Signes et Figurations typifies Miró’s unique pictorial language. He uses traditional colors—blue, red and green—as background washes upon which he applies black lines to create prominent outlines and spontaneous forms. Miró’s work often experiments with scale and composition as he juxtaposes a group of objects with a solitary element and as he explores the relationship between solid forms and voids. Signes et Figurations’  inclusion of text evokes similarities between this work and Dada collages of the time, as well as Miró’s drawing-based collages from 1933-34, which often included text or numbers. 

Miró’s dreamlike compositions seem to transcend time and logic, conveying his internal musings. “His painting is poetry, colour and rhythm. Or rather it is the osmotic fusion and synergy of these elements. Carried along by the free flow of his imagination, Miró constructs a representation of the universe that conveys his own delight in it. With this innovatory style of painterly expression, he transforms ideas into works of art. In the process of giving form to his ideas, however, he rejects logical connections, coherent relationships and, more particularly, the empirical logic of the period. As a poet, he has the right to this rejection, to this escape from time” (Miró: In the Orbit of the Imaginary (exhibition catalogue), Basil & Elis Goulandris Foundation, Andros, 2002, p. 11).