Designed with lyrical lines and playful characters, Joan Miró Femmes, Oiseaux, Etoile (Woman, Birds, Star), 1960 illustrates the artist’s expressive use of color and line. Curious figures emerge from seemingly arbitrary lines and colorful shapes in this original lithograph.

A vibrant green eye reveals the female shape that Miró alludes to in the title. The background of earthy ochre and mauve allows the linear and solid figures to stand out in strong contrast and creates a textural and tactile experience. Miró scholar Jacques Dupin discusses the works from this period: “The spirit does not, to him, exist alone or prior to things. It emanates from them. What expresses it on the canvas, its vehicle—the play of line and color, the plastic values and the rhythm—must similarly emanate from a progressive animation of the materials, from the living, emotionally inspiring substance that is the ground… Actually these paintings constitute (though this has never been said before) one of the most important ‘series’ in this artist’s work” (Dupin 393).

Derived from Miró’s 1949 original oil painting, this color lithograph is hand signed by Joan Miró (Barcelona, 1893 – Palma, 1983) in pencil in the lower right margin. An unnumbered artist proof aside from the numbered edition of 300, bearing the dry stamp of Éditions Maeght, this piece is remarkable for the pochoir hand coloring evident throughout the work. The pochoir coloring is most vivid in large areas of ruby red and crisp white that circulate throughout the lithograph, adding a further layer of depth and beauty to the work.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Joan Miró Woman, Birds, Star (Femmes, Oiseaux, Etoile), 1960 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Dupin, Jacques. Joan Miró, Life and Work. Harry Abrams: New York, 1962. The original painting is listed as cat no. 732 on pg. 416.
2. Dupin, Jacques and Ariane Lelong-Mainaud. Joan Miró Catalogue raisonné. Paintings, Vol. III: 1942-1955. ADAGP: Paris, 2001. The original painting is listed as cat. no. 836 on pg. 139.
4. Maeght Éditeur. Eaux-fortes et lithographies originales – Estampes à tirage limité Affices Originales. Paris: Maeght Éditeur, 1960. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 1715.
3. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade conservation standards, Joan Miró Woman, Birds, Star (Femmes, Oiseaux, Etoile), 1960 is presented in a complementary moulding and optical-grade Plexiglas.