Description: Gaudi XIII, from the Gaudi series (D. 1070) etching with chine-applique in colors, 1979, on Arches, signed in pencil, numbered 16/50, published by Maeght Editeur, Paris, with full margins, in excellent condition. Miro dedicated this series to famed Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, whom he met during adolescence while 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 a variety of works such as Enrajolats, La commedia dell’arte, Rupestres, Personatges i estels and La gran rodona. The engraver Joan Barbarà collaborated in the Gaudí series by Joan Miró. Over the years, they worked at the Son Boter studio, which today is part of the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró. 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. This work is accompanied by a photo certificate from Joan Barbarà.

Dimensions: 9 7/8 x 14 1/8 inches

Artist or Maker: Joan Miro

Medium: Etching with chine-applique in colors

Date: 1979