Joán Miró

Galerie Maeght, Paris
La Medusa, Studio d'Arte Contemporanea, Rome
Private Collection, Italy (acquired from the above in the late 1960s)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Michel Sima, 21 Visages d'Artistes, Paris, 1959, nos. 9-12, illustrated p. 105
Jacques Dupin & Ariane Lelong-Mainaud, Joan Miró. Catalogue raisonné. Drawings 1938-1959, Paris, 2010, vol. II, no. 1589, illustrated in colour p. 349

Executed on cream wove paper, laid down on canvas. The sheet is very slightly undulated towards the upper edge. There is some light foxing in places, mainly towards the upper edge and there is an artist's pinhole in the lower left corner. There is some light handling marks in the upper edge. Otherwise, this work is in overall good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue, though the pink is slightly darker in the original.
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'With the power of a magician, Miró fills the night sky with light, knowing that the night is not blind, that we can see in darkness, and that, on the contrary, it is the light that can blind us' (Roland Penrose, Miró, London, 1970, p. 189). Penrose perfectly describes the energy and vibrancy of the Spanish artist's treatment of night scenes, as exemplified by Personnage dans la nuit, a wonderfully spirited work. The application of paint is wonderfully spontaneous and expressive in character; indeed a series of four photographs – reproduced in Michel Sima's 21 Visages d'Artistes – documents Miró's working process and offers a fascinating insight into the creative development of the present work. His hand blurred with motion, the artist moves toward the upper left-hand corner, applying quick dabs of vibrant orange. Miró does not halt his creative movements as he glances up to the camera. The final photograph captures the artist finishing his signature after having completed his starry night sky.

Painted in the year of Miró's second retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Personnage dans la nuit employs a palette of bold primary colours, punctuated by areas of strong green and orange. The near-abstract figure dominates the composition with its central position and strong blue lines radiating outward. The multi-coloured concentric circles further emphasise a dominant focus. The light blue pigment complements the bolder strokes by demonstrating its fluid materiality, running across the surrounding red outline. Bordered by a dynamic aura of orange, the central figure is also flanked by a blue star and a green crescent moon, two of the most iconic examples of Miró's distinctive iconography.

Of his fascination with the cosmos, Miró commented, 'The spectacle of the sky overwhelms me. I'm overwhelmed when I see, in an immense sky, the crescent of the moon, or the sun. There, in my pictures, tiny forms in huge empty spaces. Empty spaces, empty horizons, empty plains - everything which is bare has always greatly impressed me' (Joan Miró, Je travaille comme un jardinier. Propos recueillis par Yvon Taillandier', English translation by Joyce Reeves, Paris, 1964, p. 44). Celestial signs began to figure prominently in Miró's work with his Constellations series of 1940-41. Throughout the rest of his oeuvre, stars would hold almost the same authorial status as the artist's signature. The moon and star were featured prominently in The Wall of the Moon and The Wall of the Sun murals the artist completed for UNESCO, which won him the Guggenheim International Award in 1958. In the present exceptional gouache, the green crescent moon and the blue star serve as anchors for this exceptionally vibrant and bracing composition. These emblems serve as markers inviting the viewer into Miró's inspired universe.