Joan Miró (1893 -1933) L’Homme Polyglot – Sable (The Polyglot man – Sable)

Description

Joan Miró (1893 -1933) L'Homme Polyglot - sable (The Polyglot Man - on sand background) Lithograph in colours. 1969, on BFK rives wove paper. Signed and numbered  40/75 in pencil. Printed and published by ie GALERIE MAEGHT, Paris Authenticated by Rosa Maria Malet in pencil verso, Fundació Joan Miró. LITERATURE (MOURLOT 604) PROVENANCE PRIVATE COLLECTION

DESCRIPTION:

IN LATE 1969 MIRÓ DREW A SERIES OF COMPOSITIONS COLLECTIVELY TITLED, L’HOMME POLYGLOT, IN WHICH HE INVESTIGATED THE VISUAL EFFECTS OF COLOUR AGAINST A MONOCHROME BACKGROUND. IN L’HOMME POLYGLOT - SABLE, MIRO’S PARTICULAR FOCUS WAS THE WAY IN WHICH THE GROUND COLOUR AFFECTED THE SENSE OF SPACE CREATED BY THE TONE OF THE FOREGROUND IMAGE. IN THE CURRENT WORK, WHICH WAS DRAWN AND PRINTED IN PARIS AT IMPRIMERIE ARTE ADRIEN MAEGHT, THE SABLE COLOURED BACKGROUND (AN OVERPRINT APPLIED TO THE CREAM BFK RIVES SHEET) IS PAIRED WITH A SPONTANEOUS CALLIGRAPHIC DRAWING IN TWO TONES OF GREY. THROUGHOUT THE SERIES, THE DESIGN OF THE SAME PLATES IS REPEATED UNCHANGED, BUT THE COLOUR OF THE INKS VARIES WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL WORK.

MIRO WAS A DEDICATED PRINTMAKER WORKING IN LITHOGRAPHY AND INTAGLIO ETCHING. HIS PAINTING AND PRINTMAKING WERE MUTUALLY INFLUENTIAL, WITH HIS PAINTING OFTEN RESPONDING TO DISCOVERIES IN HIS PRINTMAKING AND VICE

VERSA. MIRO’S WORK OFTEN RESISTS INTERPRETATION, BUT THROUGH FORM, COLOUR AND TECHNIQUE HE EXPLORES THE WAYS IN WHICH A CERTAIN SYMBOL OR IMAGE MIGHT ACT WITHIN A COMPOSITION. MIRÓ EXPLAINED THAT ‘FOR ME A FORM IS NEVER SOMETHING ABSTRACT; IT IS ALWAYS A SIGN OF SOMETHING’

THIS LITHOGRAPH WAS PRINTED BY AIME MAEGHT (1906-1981), THE FRENCH ART DEALER AND PUBLISHER WHO REPRESENTED A HOST OF MIRÓ’S LEADING CONTEMPORARIES. AMONGST THEM WERE MARC CHAGALL, ALBERTO GIACOMETTI, HENRI MATISSE, PIERRE BONNARD AND GEORGES BRAQUE. MAEGHT AND MIRÓ ESTABLISHED A DEEP FRIENDSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP THAT WAS FOUNDED ON THIS MUTUAL AGENDA TO DEMOCRATISE FINE ART.

THROUGHOUT HIS LONG CAREER, MIRÓ RESISTED ALIGNING HIS WORK WITH ONE SINGLE MOVEMENT. FOR EXAMPLE, ALTHOUGH NEVER A SIGNATORY OF THE 1924 SURREALIST MANIFESTO, HE REMAINED CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH SURREALISM. THE HORSE RIDER SERIES INCORPORATES NUMEROUS TECHNIQUES AND VISUAL STRATEGIES WHICH EMERGED FROM THE MAJOR TWENTIETH-CENTURY ART MOVEMENTS MIRO WAS ASSOCIATED WITH, INCLUDING AUTOMATIC DRAWING CELEBRATED BY THE LEADER OF THE SURREALISTS, ANDRE BRETON; THE EMOTIONAL SUBJECTIVITY OF EXPRESSIONISM; AND THE CHROMATIC SYMBOLOGY OF COLOUR FIELD PAINTING.

 

Dimensions

H: 33.5 inches / 85.1 cm W: 23.8 inches / 60.5 cm