Joan Miro (1893-1983)
Le miroir de l'homme par les bêtes (André Frénaud)
1972
Set of 5 etchings and aquatints with carborundum in colors on Bristol paper
Numbered 93 from the total edition of 225
Signed on the justification page
Published by Maeght Editeur
Each: 17.25 x 11.6 in / 43,8 x 29,4
Framed together: 41.75 x 46.25 in / 106 x 117,5 cm

Provenance:
Private Collection, New York

Reference:
M. 566-570
Cramer books 159

Illustrations by Joan Miro for the text of “Le miroir de l’homme par les bêtes” by the poet André Frénaud.

Born in Barcelona, Spain in 1893, Joan Miro is associated with the Surrealist movement. Combining the formal elements of cubism with biomorphic forms, Miro created works that referenced his home country of Spain through abstraction. After the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, his work began to display sharply political messages. In 1939 when the Nazis arrived in Paris, Miro was forced to flee to the South of France. The first retrospective of Miró’s work in the United States was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1941. In 1958, Miró was commissioned to make two significant murals for UNESCO in Paris, for which he received the Guggenheim International Award. During the 1970s, he became intrigued with the process of bookmaking, and he created over 250 illustrated artist’s books.

Miro’s early etchings produced during the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War, often explored a tension between darkness and color, incorporating the different intaglio techniques of aquatint and drypoint to heighten these contrasts. In 1967, Miro’s etching practice hit a breakthrough when he discovered that carborundum, an abrasive material, could give his prints even more depth and texture. These late carborundum prints are considered to be among Miro’s most desirable etchings from this period.

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