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Description & Provenance: Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893–1983) — Untitled Blue, "Plate 3 – Untitled." This is a color lithograph on paper from a series of eight pieces, including the cover, published in 1956 by Jacques Prévert and Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes. The work is unsigned and shows folio fold marks. The paper measures approximately 9" x 15", and it is framed, with overall dimensions of approximately 16" x 22". The lithograph is in excellent condition. This piece is part of an early series of eight lithographs (including the cover, not shown) printed by Maeght. The series exemplifies Miró’s early explorations in color lithography.

Origin, Encyclopedia & Researched Articles:

Encyclopedia Name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Mir%C3%B3

Joan Miró i Ferrà (April 20 , 1893 – December 25, 1983) was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramist born in Barcelona. Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride. In numerous interviews dating from the 1930s onwards, Miró expressed contempt for conventional painting methods as a way of supporting bourgeoise society, and famously declared an "assassination of painting" in favor of upsetting the visual elements of established painting. Born to the families of a goldsmith and watchmaker, the young Miró was drawn towards the arts community that was gathering in Montparnasse and in 1920 moved to Paris, France. There, under the influence of the poets and writers, he developed his unique style: organic forms and flattened picture planes drawn with a sharp line. Generally thought of as a Surrealist because of his interest in automatism and the use of sexual symbols (for example, ovoids with wavy lines emanating from them), Miró’s style was influenced in varying degrees by Surrealism and Dada, yet he rejected membership to any artistic movement in the interwar European years. André Breton, the founder of Surrealism, described him as "the most Surrealist of us all." Miró confessed to creating one of his most famous works, Harlequin's Carnival, under similar circumstances: "How did I think up my drawings and my ideas for painting? Well I'd come home to my Paris studio in Rue Blomet at night, I'd go to bed, and sometimes I hadn't any supper. I saw things, and I jotted them down in a notebook. I saw shapes on the ceiling. Shuzo Takiguchi published the first monograph on Miró in 1940. In 1948-49, although living in Barcelona, Miró made frequent visits to Paris to work on printing techniques at the Mourlot Studios (lithographs) and at the Atelier Lacourière (engravings). A close relationship lasting forty years developed with the printer Fernand Mourlot and resulted in the production of over one thousand different lithographic editions.

Verbal History:

Joan Miro's, (1893-1983). Spanish printer - born in Barcelona. In 1918, Miro's introduced images which combined suggestions of Catalan folklore and Fauvist technique. In 1919, he visited Paris and became a friend of Picasso and Cubism. He combined this technique with a sophisticated Primitivism and produced some of the Miro's "creatures" prevalent in his early works. In his mature work he stood apart from the several stylistic categories of Surrealism and yet he was the greatest of all Surrealist abstract artists and can be compared in stature only to Kandinsky in expressive abstraction. The Foundation Joan Miro's was opened in 1975 overlooking Barcelona, Spain. It is designed both as a memorial museum housing the collection of Miro's works and as a center of artistic activity where you can get a glimpse of Miro's's world. The art work of Joan Miró always makes one smile. Born in Barcelona in 1893, Miró worked as an account clerk at a drugstore, but wanted to become an artist. When he became ill with typhoid fever he left his job and never looked back. After recovering, he studied at Francesc Galí's art school and at the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc. His first solo exhibition was held in Barcelona in 1918. In 1920, he began to spend winters in Paris, and became part of the local artistic and literary circles. Ernest Hemingway bought Miró's painting, The Farm, in 1923. Miró's first Parisian exhibition took place in 1925. His bold colors with wondrous shapes and simple lines put him in the camp of the surrealists - he was certainly one of the fun ones. For Diaghilev, he teamed up with Max Ernst to create the designs for Roméo and Juliette in 1926. His sculptures are destination points in Barcelona, Chicago, Paris, and New York. His ceramic murals were created for the Barcelona Airport, the Graduate Center at Harvard University, the Guggenheim Museum, and the UNESCO building in Paris. He bequeathed the Miró Foundation to the city of Barcelona, which includes one exhibit room set aside to show works by new artists to introduce them to the public. The foundation has the most extensive collection of Miró's works - almost 11,000 pieces, including: 240 paintings, 175 sculptures, 9 textiles, 4 ceramics, complete graphic works, and approximately 8,000 drawings. Amongst many honors, Google re-created their logo in Miró's style in honor of his birthday: another reason to smile. Miró died in 1983.