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JOAN MIRÓ | Personnages, oiseau
Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 USD
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Description
- Joan Miró
- Personnages, oiseau
- Signed Miró (lower right); signed Joan Miró, titled, numbered X, inscribed Barcelone and dated 23-10-1942. (on the verso)
- Gouache, watercolor and brush and ink on paper
- 19 5/8 by 25 5/8 in.
- 50 by 65 cm
- Executed in Barcelona on October 23, 1942.
Provenance
Galerie Maeght, Paris
Galerie Koller, Zurich
Private Collection, Switzerland (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 10, 1989, lot 196)
Private Collection, Switzerland (acquired at the above sale)
Private Collection, Europe (acquired from the above circa 1996 and sold: Christie's, New York, June 24, 2004, lot 427)
Private Collection, Monaco
Acquired from the above in 2008
Galerie Koller, Zurich
Private Collection, Switzerland (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 10, 1989, lot 196)
Private Collection, Switzerland (acquired at the above sale)
Private Collection, Europe (acquired from the above circa 1996 and sold: Christie's, New York, June 24, 2004, lot 427)
Private Collection, Monaco
Acquired from the above in 2008
Literature
Jacques Dupin & Ariane Lelong-Mainaud, Joan Miró, Catalogue raisonné, Drawings, vol. II, Paris, 2010, no. 997, illustrated in color p. 109
Condition
Executed on cream wove paper. The sheet is hinged at several places on its verso and float mounted. There are pinholes in all four corner. The edges of the sheet are lightly deckled. There is a minor loss to the upper edge. The sheet is slightly undulating. There is foxing throughout and the sheet has discolored, commensurate with age. The colors are bright and fresh. The work is in good condition.
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.
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
Celebrating a lyricism and freedom of expression, Personnages, oiseau is an energetic composition that typifies the artist’s oeuvre. Using his repertoire of signs and formulas, Miró tested the bounds of his composition by liberating his materials, allowing them to take on a life of their own, to speak for themselves and to coalesce into masterful and lively compositions.
Writing of Miró’s production in 1942 and 1943, which consisted almost exclusively of works on paper, Jacques Dupin notes: “They are explorations undertaken with no preconceived idea—effervescent creations in which the artist perfected a vast repertory of forms, signs, and formulas, bringing into play all the materials and instruments compatible with paper. These works permit us to follow the alchemist at work, for errors and oversights are found side by side with the most unexpected triumphs and happy spontaneous discoveries. The object of all these explorations is to determine the relationship between drawing and the materials, the relationship between line and space. The artist is not so much interested in expressing something with appropriate technique, as in making the material express itself in its own way. Successively, on the same sheet, black pencil and India ink, watercolour and pastel, gouache and thinned oil paint, coloured crayons...are employed, and their contrasts and similarities exploited to the full, and not infrequently exploited beyond their capacities” (Jacques Dupin, Joan Miró, Life and Work, London, 1962, p. 372).
Writing of Miró’s production in 1942 and 1943, which consisted almost exclusively of works on paper, Jacques Dupin notes: “They are explorations undertaken with no preconceived idea—effervescent creations in which the artist perfected a vast repertory of forms, signs, and formulas, bringing into play all the materials and instruments compatible with paper. These works permit us to follow the alchemist at work, for errors and oversights are found side by side with the most unexpected triumphs and happy spontaneous discoveries. The object of all these explorations is to determine the relationship between drawing and the materials, the relationship between line and space. The artist is not so much interested in expressing something with appropriate technique, as in making the material express itself in its own way. Successively, on the same sheet, black pencil and India ink, watercolour and pastel, gouache and thinned oil paint, coloured crayons...are employed, and their contrasts and similarities exploited to the full, and not infrequently exploited beyond their capacities” (Jacques Dupin, Joan Miró, Life and Work, London, 1962, p. 372).