JOAN MIRÓ 1893-1983
Montroig 1893-1983 Mallorca (Spanish)
Title: The Return Journey III, from: Series for King Ubu | Le Voyage de Retour III, from: Suites pour Ubu Roi, 1966
Technique: Original Hand Signed and Numbered Lithograph in Colours on Arches Wove Paper
Paper size: 54 x 75 cm. / 21.3 x 29.5 in.
Image size: 41 x 63 cm. / 16.1 x 24.8 in.
Additional Information: This original lithograph in colours 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.
Note: 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 stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises 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 satirise General Franco and his generals after he had won the Spanish Civil War.
He revisited this subject many times in his oeuvre.
Literature:
1. Mourlot, F. & Leiris, M. (1977). Joan Miró: Der Lithograph, Vol. III 1964-1969. Geneva: Weber.
Reference: Mourlot 430
2. Cramer, P. (1989). Miró: Catalogue des Livres Ilustrées. Paris: Edition Cramer,
Reference: Cramer 108
Condition: Excellent condition. The colours very slightly attenuated.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Title: Fraternity | Fraternité, 1939
Technique: Complete Set of Nine Original Hand Signed Etchings on Montval Wove Paper with the Accompanying Text and Portfolio
Portfolio size: 24 x 17.5 x 2 cm. / 9.5 x 6.9 x 1 in.
Additional information: Each of the works in the portfolio is hand signed in pencil by each artist.
The portfolio is hand numbered in pencil “97” on the justification page.
This portfolio was printed in the limited edition of 101 by Atelier 17 and Henri Hecht, there were a further 12 copies produced for the collaborators.
Presented in the original green paper bound portfolio sleeve and cover. The cover bears a further etching by Stanley William Hayter.
The portfolio contains the poem by English poet Stephen Spender, titled “Fall of a City”. The poem was translate into French by Louis Aragon, who has signed the translation “Aragon” in pencil.
The contributing artists are:
1. John Buckland-Wright
2. Stanley William Hayter
3. Josef Hecht
4. Dalla Husband
5. Wassily Kandinsky
6. Roderick Mead
7. Joan Miró
8. Dolf Reiser
9. Luis Vargas
Note: This work was commissioned in support of the Spanish Republic and was published to mark the fall of Madrid on 29th March 1939.
Provenance: From the Library Collection of R. & B. L., Paris (with their label)
Condition: Very good condition. Minor toning of the interior pages. The portfolio case showing minor signs of wear.
JOAN MIRÓ 1893-1983
Montroig 1893-1983 Mallorca (Spanish)
Title: Bougrelas and his Mother II, from: Series for King Ubu | Bougrelas et sa Mère II, from: Suites pour Ubu Roi, 1966
Technique: Original Hand Numbered Lithograph in Colours on Arches Wove Paper
Paper size: 54 x 75 cm. / 21.3 x 29.5 in.
Image size: 41 x 63 cm. / 16.1 x 24.8 in.
Additional Information: This original lithograph in colours is hand numbered in pencil from the edition of 75, at the lower left corner. There were also 25 hors commerce [out of trade] impressions.
This composition was published unsigned and exists only in this form.
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.
Note: 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 stylised burlesques in which Jarry satirises 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 satirise General Franco and his generals after he had won the Spanish Civil War.
He revisited this subject many times in his oeuvre.
Literature:
1. Mourlot, F. & Leiris, M. (1977). Joan Miró: Der Lithograph, Vol. III 1964-1969. Geneva: Weber.
Reference: Mourlot 408
2. Cramer, P. (1989). Miró: Catalogue des Livres Ilustrées. Paris: Edition Cramer,
Reference: Cramer 108
Condition: Excellent condition.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Title: Collection of Greeting Cards, 1940s-1970s
Technique: Original Lithographs in Colours on Wove Papers
Paper size: 34 x 22 cm. / 13.4 x 8.7 in.
Additional Information: Five greeting cards with lithographs in colours as frontispiece for Galerie Maeght and one greeting card for Galerie Louise Leiris.
The collection includes:
Picasso Dessins 1903-1907, 25th May 1954, Galerie Louise Leiris
Miró Dessins, 16th November 1971, Galerie Maeght
Reybeyrolle – Les Guerilleros, 19 March 1969, Galerie Maeght
Miró – Album 13, 2nd June 1950, Galerie Maeght
Sur 4 Murs, 15 April 1947, Galerie Maeght
Ubac, 7th March 1972, Galerie Maeght
Condition: Very good condition. Soft creasing and minor staining.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Title: Monument to Christopher Columbus and Marcel Duchamp | Monument à Christophe Colomb et à Marcel Duchamp, 1971
Technique: Complete Set of Thirteen Original Hand Signed Etchings on Arches Wove Paper with the Accompanying Text and Portfolio
Portfolio size: 40 x 30 x 5 cm. / 15.7 x 11.8 x 2 in.
Additional information: Each of the works in the portfolio is hand signed in pencil by each artist.
The portfolio is hand numbered “XXI” (21) on the justification page.
This portfolio was published in a limited edition of 125 copies by Éditions Georges Visat, Paris.
There were a further 35 copies numbered in Roman numerals reserved for the artists and collaborators. Our copy is one of these 35.
The etching by Joan Miro was printed with Maeght Éditeur Paris, whilst the other twelve etchings were printed by Éditions Georges Visat, Paris.
The contributing artists are:
1. Pierre Alechinsky
2. Arman
3. Enrico Baj
4. Hans Bellmer
5. Camille Bryen
6. Max Ernst
7. Raoul Hausmann
8. Man Ray (two works)
9. Roberto Matta
10. Joan Miró
11. Hans Richter
12. Dorothea Tanning
Provenance: From the Library Collection of R. & B. L., Paris
Condition: Excellent condition. Minor scuff on the title page. The portfolio case showing very minor signs of wear.
JOAN MIRÓ 1893-1983 Montroig 1893- 1983 Mallorca (Spanish)
Title: Plate V, from: Series II | Série II, 1952-53
Technique: Original Hand Signed Etching and Aquatint in Colours on Arches Wove Paper
Paper size: 50.5 x 65.5 cm. / 19.9 x 25.8 in.
Image size: 37.6 x 45.5 cm. / 14.7 x 18 in.
Additional Information: This original etching and aquatint in colours is hand signed and dated in pencil by the artist “Miró 1952” at the lower right margin. The work is also hand numbered in pencil “3/13” at the lower left margin. It was etched at the Atelier 17, New York in June 1947 and printed at the Atelier Lacourière, Paris. It was published by Maeght Éditeur, Paris, in 1952-53 in a very small, limited edition of only 13 impressions. The paper bears the Arches watermark.
Note: This work belongs to the second of six series of etchings which Miró made in 1952 and 1953. The first and second series are more closely related in terms of imagery than the subsequent series. Both present boldly and broadly drawn figures reminiscent of some of the ceramics Miró was making with Josep Lloréns Artigas at the time, while retaining the sense of fluidity characteristic of Miró’s biomorphic forms of this period. In particular, a number of motifs are to be found in an unpublished set of engravings of 1947 which surround the poems of Ruthven Todd. Another impression of this same print can be found in the collection of the Tate Gallery, London.
Literature: Dupin, J. (1984). Miró Engraver, Vol. I 1928-1960. Paris: Éditeur Daniel Lelong.
Joan Miró (1893-1983) studied art at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and at the Academia Gali. His parents would rather have seen him taking a job as a serious businessman. He even took business classes in 1907 parallel to his art classes. Miró worked as an accountant for nearly two years until he had a nervous breakdown. His parents finally accepted their son´s choice of a career as an artist without giving him too much support. In the beginning of his career Miró tried different painting styles like Fauvism and Cubism. In 1920, he made the first of a series of trips to Paris. In 1921 he settled permanently in the French capital. He met Pablo Picasso and many of the other great painters and artists living in Paris – the center of arts in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. From 1924 on, Miró joined the circle of the Surrealist theorist André Breton. His painting style took a turn to Surrealism. His comrades were André Masson and Max Ernst. But he never integrated himself completely into this group dominated by André Breton. He remained an outsider. By 1930 the artist had developed his own style. Miró art is hard to describe. It is characterized by brilliant colors combined with simplified forms. Joan Miró integrated elements of Catalan folk art into his works. He liked to compare his visual arts to poetry. In the 1930s the artist’s fame and recognition became international. From 1940 to 1948 he was back in Spain. During this period he experimented in different media; sculpture, ceramics and murals. In 1947, he came to the United States for the first time. He had several solo shows. The most important one was a retrospective at the MoMA in 1951 and in 1959. In 1954 he won a prize at the Venice Biennale. Miró was a disciplined, hard working and modest man. In spite of international recognition, his financial situation was tense. After World War II, his first trip to the USA pushed his popularity and the market value of his art work. In 1956 Miró could finally move into the villa of his dreams, located in Palma de Majorca. The new home was built in an ultra-modern style typical for the avant-garde architecture of the fifties. In 1992 it was transformed into the Miró Museum open to the public. Miró was a dedicated printmaker who worked in lithographs and etchings with carborundum. Miró is among those modern artists like Picasso or Chagall whose works were published in editions targeted at a collector audience, making Miró’s art available for art lovers around the world.
Joan Miró (1893-1983) studied art at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and at the Academia Gali. His parents would rather have seen him taking a job as a serious businessman. He even took business classes in 1907 parallel to his art classes. Miró worked as an accountant for nearly two years until he had a nervous breakdown. His parents finally accepted their son´s choice of a career as an artist without giving him too much support. In the beginning of his career Miró tried different painting styles like Fauvism and Cubism. In 1920, he made the first of a series of trips to Paris. In 1921 he settled permanently in the French capital. He met Pablo Picasso and many of the other great painters and artists living in Paris - the center of arts in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. From 1924 on, Miró joined the circle of the Surrealist theorist André Breton. His painting style took a turn to Surrealism. His comrades were André Masson and Max Ernst. But he never integrated himself completely into this group dominated by André Breton. He remained an outsider. By 1930 the artist had developed his own style. Miró art is hard to describe. It is characterized by brilliant colors combined with simplified forms. Joan Miró integrated elements of Catalan folk art into his works. He liked to compare his visual arts to poetry. In the 1930s the artist\'s fame and recognition became international. From 1940 to 1948 he was back in Spain. During this period he experimented in different media; sculpture, ceramics and murals. In 1947, he came to the United States for the first time. He had several solo shows. The most important one was a retrospective at the MoMA in 1951 and in 1959. In 1954 he won a prize at the Venice Biennale. Miró was a disciplined, hard working and modest man. In spite of international recognition, his financial situation was tense. After World War II, his first trip to the USA pushed his popularity and the market value of his art work. In 1956 Miró could finally move into the villa of his dreams, located in Palma de Majorca. The new home was built in an ultra-modern style typical for the avant-garde architecture of the fifties. In 1992 it was transformed into the Miró Museum open to the public. Miró was a dedicated printmaker who worked in lithographs and etchings with carborundum. Miró is among those modern artists like Picasso or Chagall whose works were published in editions targeted at a collector audience, making Miró\'s art available for art lovers around the world.