Born on April 20, 1893 in Barcelona, Joan Miró began his studies in art early, at the age of fourteen, at the art academy of Barcelona. In 1917 he had his first solo show, the same year he met both Pablo Picasso and Francis Picabia. Although Miró’s early work was influenced by several movements of the time, including Fauvism, Cubism, and Dadaism, he became most well known among the Surrealists, whose first manifesto he signed in 1924. Throughout his career, despite occasional returns to figuration or full abstraction, Miró remained consistently true to the core tenet of Surrealism: working with the intention of liberating the creative powers of the unconscious from the constraints of logic and reason. However, although André Breton, author of the Surrealist manifesto, wrote that Miró was “probably the most Surrealistic of us all,” Miró’s work still stood apart; he omitted the accessible, representational elements present in much of the work by other Surrealists. There is a charming sense of playfulness throughout much of Miró’s oeuvre, though the onset of the Spanish Civil War inspired more solemn and melancholic motifs in his work. The war eventually caused Miró to relocate to Paris in 1936 but by 1940 he was forced to return to Spain to escape the German occupation of France. It was during this period that he began to achieve international acclaim, and a large retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1941 solidified his reputation within the art world. Miró’s first visit to the US in 1947 marks the beginning of his desire to communicate with a wider audience, specifically by working in public spaces. This ambition furthered his acclaim; for instance, two massive, ceramic murals for the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, representative also of his late-career interest in ceramics, won him a Guggenheim International Award in 1958. In 1975, Miró opened to the public the Fundació Joan Miró, eight years before his death in December 1983. His works are in collections around the world and in his native Spain including Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, and the Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid. Because of Miró’s art historical significance, and a consistent institutional presence, his market has been reliably strong; according to Sotheby’s Mei Moses, the average compound annual return for Joan Miró was 8.0%, with an 88.7% of works by Miró increasing in value.

Joan Miró

Prints & Multiples

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Maravillas con Variaciones Acrósticas en el Jardín de Miró (One Plate) (M. 1071; see C. Bks. 211) signed in pencil and numbered 12/75 lithograph printed in colours on Arches wove paper sheet: 743 by 527 mm. 29¼ by 20¾ in. Executed in 1975, this impression is number 12 from the edition of 75, printed and published by Ediciones Polígrafa.

View 1 of Lot 82: Maravillas con Variaciones Acrósticas en el Jardín de Miró (One Plate) (see C. Bks. 211)

maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de miró (one plate) (see c. bks. 211)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Personnage nuageux (Mourlot 219) signed in pencil, dated and numbered 46/50 lithograph printed in colours on Arches wove paper sheet: 758 by 560 mm. 29⅞ by 22 in. Executed in 1955, this impression is number 46 from the edition of 50, published by Maeght Éditeur.

View 1 of Lot 75: Personnage nuageux (Mourlot 219)

personnage nuageux (mourlot 219)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Joan Miró Lithographe II (One Plate) (M. 1046; see C. Bks. 198) signed in pencil and numbered XXXIII/LXXX lithograph printed in colours on Arches wove paper sheet: 317 by 495 mm. 12½ by 19½ in. Executed in 1975, this impression is number 33 from the edition of 80 (there is also a book edition of 150 in Arabic numerals), printed by Atelier Mourlot, published by Leon Amiel.

View 1 of Lot 79: Joan Miró Lithographe II (One Plate) (M. 1046; see C. Bks. 198)

joan miró lithographe ii (one plate) (m. 1046; see c. bks. 198)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Album 21 (One Plate) (M. 1126) signed in pencil and numbered 21/75 lithograph printed in colours on wove paper sheet: 198 by 651 mm. 19⅝ by 25⅝ in. Executed in 1981, this impression is number 21 from the edition of 75, printed by Atelier Mourlot, published by Maeght Éditeur.

View 1 of Lot 81: Album 21 (One Plate) (M. 1126) 

album 21 (one plate) (m. 1126)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Ubu aux Baléares (One Plate) (M. 774; see Cramer Books 146) signed in pencil lithograph printed in colours on Arches wove paper sheet: 504 by 662 mm. 19⅞ by 26 in. Executed in 1971, this impression is a proof aside from the edition of 120, printed by Atelier Mourlot, published by Tériade.

View 1 of Lot 77: Ubu aux Baléares (One Plate) (M. 774; see Cramer Books 146) 

ubu aux baléares (one plate) (m. 774; see cramer books 146)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Sala Pelaires, Palma de Majorca (M. 684) signed in pencil and numbered 2/75 lithograph printed in colours on Guarro wove paper sheet: 760 by 560 mm. 29⅞ by 22 in. Executed in 1970, this impression is number 2 from the edition of 75, printed by Maeght Editeur, published by Sala Pelaires.

View 1 of Lot 76: Sala Pelaires, Palma de Majorca (M. 684)

sala pelaires, palma de majorca (m. 684)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Série Mallorca, Plate III (Dupin 613) signed in pencil and numbered 20/50 etching and aquatint printed in colours on Guarro wove paper plate: 545 by 690 mm. 21½ by 27⅛ in. sheet: 703 by 864 mm. 27⅝ by 34 in. Executed in 1973, this impression is number 20 from the edition of 50, published by Sala Pelaires.

View 1 of Lot 83: Série Mallorca, Plate III (Dupin 613)

série mallorca, plate iii (dupin 613)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Joan Miró escultor (One Plate) (M. 934; see C. Bks. 191) signed in pencil and numbered 100/100 lithograph printed in colours on Guarro wove paper image: 200 by 399 mm. 7⅞ by 15¾ in. sheet: 348 by 518 mm. 13¾ by 20⅜ in. Executed in 1974, this impression is number 100 from the edition of 100, co-published by Ediciones Polígrafa and Art Conseil.

View 1 of Lot 80: Joan Miró escultor (One Plate) (M. 934; see C. Bks. 191)

joan miró escultor (one plate) (m. 934; see c. bks. 191)

Joan Miró 1893 - 1983 Oda a Joan Miró, Plate VI (M. 908) signed in pencil and numbered 26/75 lithograph printed in colours on Guarro wove paper sheet: 871 by 608 mm. 34¼ by 24in. Executed in 1973, this impression is number 26 from the edition of 75 (there is also an edition of 25 in Roman numerals), published by Ediciones Polígrafa.

View 1 of Lot 78: Oda a Joan Miró, Plate VI (M. 908)

oda a joan miró, plate vi (m. 908)

Joan MiróLe Père Ubustamped with the foundry mark&nbsp;R. Haligon, Plastiques d’Art&nbsp;(on the inner edge of the blue foot)&nbsp;painted resinheight: 72 in. 182.9 cm.&nbsp;Concieved in 1974; this work is unique.

Le Père Ubu

Composition IV, from: Etchings for an Exhibition [Planche IV : Gravures Pour Une Exposition], by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=joan+miro&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1973.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish 1893-1983).</li><li>Etching and aquatint in colors.</li><li>Hand-signed.</li><li>Part of an edition of 75.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original etching and aquatint in colors is monogrammed in pencil by the artist “M" at lower right corner. It was printed by Morsang, Paris and published by Pierre Matisse, New York in 1973 in a limited edition of 75 impressions. There were also a 15 hors commerce [Out of Trade] proofs aside the standard edition.&nbsp; This is the fourth composition (of four) etchings produced by the artist on the occasion of the 1973 exhibition “Miró, paintings, gouaches, sobreteixims, sculpture and etchings” held at Pierre Matisse, New York. The suite also included one lithograph. The work has been inscribed with the number 72/75 by another hand in the lower left corner.

Composition IV, from: Etchings for an Exhibition | Planche IV : Gravures Pour Une Exposition

Personnage à la Flèche Noire [Figure with Arrow], by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Joan+Mir%C3%B3&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1977.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Etching with aquatint in colors on Wove Arches paper.</li><li>Hand-signed and numbered.</li><li>Edition 20/50.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original etching with aquatint in colors is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Miró" at lower right corner. It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 50, at the lower left corner. It was printed by Morsang, Paris, in 1977 in a total edition of 50 impressions. There were also a twelve hors Commerce [Out of Trade] proofs aside from the regular edition. It was published by Maeght Éditeur, Paris.

Figure with Arrow | Personnage à la Flèche Noire

Le Croc des Phynances I [The Fang of Finances I] by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Joan+Mir%C3%B3&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1971.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Lithograph in colors on Arches Wove paper.</li><li>Hand-signed and dedicated.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original lithograph in colors is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Miró" at the lower right margin. It is also dedicated in pencil “à René Le Moigne", at the lower left margin. This impression is an artist’s proof aside from the standard edition of 30. It was printed by Arte Adrien Maeght, Paris and was published by Maeght Éditeur, Paris in 1971.

The Fang of Finances I | Le Croc des Phynances I

Personatge I Estels III [Figure and Stars III] by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Joan+Mir%C3%B3&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1979.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish).</li><li>Etching and aquatint with collage on Arches Wove paper.</li><li>Hand-signed and numbered.</li><li>Edition 14/50.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original etching and aquatint with collage is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Miró" at the lower right edge. It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 50, at the lower left edge. This work is the third composition from the Personatge i Estels Suite of seven etchings. It was printed in a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered impressions in 1979 by Joan Barbarà, Barcelona. A further 15 Hors Commerce [out of trade] proofs were realised aside the regular edition. The suite was published by Galerie Maeght, Barcelona in 1979. The paper bears the Arches watermark in the lower right corner.

Figure and Stars III | Personatge I Estels III

The Hand [La Main], by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=joan+miro&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1953.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Etching and aquatint in colors on BFK Wove paper.</li><li>Hand signed and numbered.</li><li>Part of an edition of 75.</li><li>Published and printed by Arte Adrien Maeght, Paris.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>

The Hand | La Main

Five prints from Journal d'un Graveur by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=joan+miro&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1975.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 5.</li><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Drypoint etchings on Rives vellum.</li><li>Each signed and numbered in pencil.</li><li>Edition 6/75.</li><li>Published by Maeght, Paris.</li><li>Printed by Morsang, Paris.</li><li>Each is presented framed.</li></ul> Five etchings from the Journal D'un Graveur, a series which is made up of 3 volumes, each containing a suite of 15 dry-points, preceded by an engraving in color wash, etching and aquatint. All the plates, signed and numbered, are gathered together under a cover engraved with an etching. Each volume also contains a final etched engraving unsigned, unnumbered. 75 Copies were pulled on Rives vellum, numbered 1 to 75, and 10 copies not for sale, numbered 1 to X.

Five Prints from Journal d'un Graveur

Composition VII, from: Gaudí, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=joan+miro&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1979.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Etching with aquatint on Arches Wove paper.</li><li>Hand signed and numbered.</li><li>Part of an edition of 50.</li><li>Printed by Joan Barbarà, Barcelona.</li><li>Published by Maeght, Barcelona.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> After Miró had established his printing studio in his Son Boter studio in 1975, he was able to start his major project: a print series dedicated to the great Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, a figure he greatly admired. Miró met Gaudi during his adolescence while he was attending drawing classes at the Cercle de Sant Lluc. Miró greatly admired this Catalan Modernist architect, considering Gaudí’s work among his sources of inspiration. Miró decided to prepare this series carefully in advance before proceeding. In order to "be in shape", as he described it, he produced together with the engraver Joan Barbarà a variety of works such as Enrajolats, La commedia dell’arte, Rupestres, Personatges i estels and La gran rodona. The Gaudí series comprises 21 prints in which Miró used all conceivable resources, ranging from traditional techniques to the most innovative methods, such as etching, sugar-lift aquatint, carborundum, embossing, and collage. Miró worked from a series of preliminary sketches and originals made with pencil, pastel, ink, gouache, and collage. The original designs for the Gaudí series were finished before Barbarà began his collaboration with Miró. All the matrices that were used for this series were copper plates, some plated with nickel. The creative process for this series took place at the Son Boter studio beginning in 1976; it was then printed in Barcelona in 1979, in an edition of 50. The result of this process is a gallery of images in which the sobriety of the black hues contrasts with the palette of blues, reds, yellows, and greens. All of these colors often configure a sort of multi-shaped, uneven grid whose changing geometry suggests the kaleidoscopic, irregular mosaic work used by Gaudí to envelop his architectural elements.

Composition VII, from: Gaudí, 1979 

Composition VI, from Gaudí by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=joan+miro&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1979.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Etching with aquatint on Arches Wove paper.</li><li>Hand-signed and nunmbered.</li><li>Edition 28/50.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This etching is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Miró" in the lower right margin. It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 50, in the lower left margin. The work was part of Miró's important series Gaudí that included 21 different etchings. It was printed in a limited edition of 50 hand signed and numbered impressions. There were also 15 hors commerce [out of trade] impressions. It was printed by Joan Barbarà, Barcelona and published by Maeght, Barcelona in 1979. After Miró had established his printing studio in his Son Boter studio in 1975, he was able to start his major project: a print series dedicated to the great Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, a figure he greatly admired. Miró met Gaudi during his adolescence while he was attending drawing classes at the Cercle de Sant Lluc. Miró greatly admired this Catalan Modernist architect, considering Gaudí’s work among his sources of inspiration. Miró decided to prepare this series carefully in advance before proceeding. In order to "be in shape", as he described it, he produced together with the engraver Joan Barbarà a variety of works such as Enrajolats, La commedia dell’arte, Rupestres, Personatges i estels and La gran rodona. The Gaudí series comprises 21 prints in which Miró used all conceivable resources, ranging from traditional techniques to the most innovative methods, such as etching, sugar-lift aquatint, carborundum, embossing, and collage. Miró worked from a series of preliminary sketches and originals made with pencil, pastel, ink, gouache, and collage. The original designs for the Gaudí series were finished before Barbarà began his collaboration with Miró. All the matrices that were used for this series were copper plates, some plated with nickel. The creative process for this series took place at the Son Boter studio beginning in 1976; it was then printed in Barcelona in 1979, in an edition of 50. The result of this process is a gallery of images in which the sobriety of the black hues contrasts with the palette of blues, reds, yellows, and greens. All of these colors often configure a sort of multi-shaped, uneven grid whose changing geometry suggests the kaleidoscopic, irregular mosaic work used by Gaudí to envelop his architectural elements. The Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró holds all the original designs that were used as a starting point for this series, as well as a large number of plates and color proofs.

Composition VI, from Gaudí

The Troglodytes I [Les troglodytes I], by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=joan+miro&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1978.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Etching and aquatint in colors with carborundum on Arches Wove paper.</li><li>Hand signed and numbered.</li><li>Part of an edition of 50.</li><li>Printed by Morsang, Paris.</li><li>Published by Maeght Éditeur, Paris.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>

The Troglodytes I | Les Troglodytes I

The Return Journey III, from: Series for King Ubu, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Joan+Mir%C3%B3&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1966.<ul><li>Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983).</li><li>Le Voyage de Retour III, from: Suites pour Ubu Roi.</li><li>Lithograph in colors on Arches Wove paper.</li><li>Hand signed and numbered.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This lithograph in colors is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Miró" at the lower right corner. It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 75, at the lower left corner. There were also 25 hors commerce [out of trade] impressions. The work was part of a portfolio entitled "Roi Ubu" [King Ubu] realised by the artist in 1966. It was printed by Atelier Mourlot, Paris and published by Tériade Éditeur, Paris. The paper bears the Arches watermark along the lower margin. Ubu Roi (Ubu the King) is a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896. It is a precursor of the Theatre of the Absurd and Surrealism. It is the first of three stylized burlesques in which Jarry satirizes power, greed, and their evil practices—in particular the propensity of the complacent bourgeois to abuse the authority engendered by success. It was followed by Ubu Cocu [Ubu Cuckolded] and Ubu Enchaîné [Ubu Enchained], neither of which was performed during Jarry's 34-year life. Père Ubu first appeared in 1888 in a collaboration between Alfred Jarry and a fellow student at the Rennes Lycée, but his first public appearance came in 1893 when Jarry published some of prose works in an avant-garde review, the Minutes de Sable Mémorial. His triumph, however, was on the stage when the director of the Theâtre de l'Oeuvre, Lugne-Poe staged a production of Ubu Roi. The audience received the play with screams, whistles, fist-shaking, the critics took up the cudgels and the play became infamous and its author an avant-garde hero. Joan Miró used Ubu Roi as a subject of his most famous series, made of 50 1940 lithographs known as "the Barcelona Series." These pictures could be Ubu Roi but they also satirize General Franco and his generals after he had won the Spanish Civil War. He revisited this subject many times in his oeuvre.

The Return Journey III, from: Series for King Ubu

Couple of Birds III | Couple d'Oiseaux III, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Joan+Mir%C3%B3&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Miró</a>, 1966.<ul><li>Joan Miro (Spanish 1893-1983).</li><li>Etching and Aquatint in colors on Mandeure Wove paper.</li><li>Hand-signed and numbered.</li><li>Part of an edition of 50.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original etching and aquatint is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Miró" at the lower right margin.&nbsp;It is also hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 50, at the lower left margin. There were also a small number of hors commerce impressions. &nbsp;It was printed by Arte Adrien Maeght, Paris, in 1966 and it was published by Maeght Éditeur, Paris in the same year.&nbsp;The paper bears the Canton de Mandeure watermark along the lower margin.

Couple of Birds III | Couple d'Oiseaux III

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