“In 1967, Miró created 18 color lithographs to accompany his poem “le lézard aux plumes d'or”. After the printing, the artist and the publisher, Louis Broder, realized there were defects in paper that had caused deteriorations of the colors of the prints. Thus, they decided to refuse the lithographs and destroy them.
Because the lithographics stones had been destroyed, there could not reproduce the same compositions, So Miró created new lithographs which appeared in 1971 with the same title. Additional suites of the lithographs had been also printed on rives, parchment and Japan with size 41 X 56 cm.
After the death of Louis Broder, it was impossible to determine if all the defective suites had been destroyed. We could not establish with precision the edition of these suite. It is probably the same edition that the one of 1971. In this case, there would be for each subject, 30 copies on parchment and 50 copies on Japon Nacré”.
(Note in the catalogue Miró lithographe III, Maeght Publisher)
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Miró studied art at School of Fine Arts at La Llotja and Gali's Escola d'Art. His earliest works show the influence of the Fauve and Cubist movements which were fashionable in Spain during the early part of the century. In 1920, Miró traveled to Paris and painted with Surrealists Andr, Masson and Max Ernst. While frequently identified with the Surrealist movement, Miró never fully accepted the movement's creed and refused to sign the Surrealist Manifesto.
Miró's vibrant canvases transport the viewer to alien worlds inhabited by all manner of whimsical creatures. His work has been characterized as psychic automatism, an expression of the subconscious in free form. By 1930 Miró had developed a lyrical style that remained fairly consistent. It is distinguished by the use of brilliant pure color and the playful juxtaposition of delicate lines with abstract, often amoebic shapes. Throughout his life, Miró felt a deep connection to his Catalan heritage and much of the symbolism that is so prevalent in his work is deeply rooted in this bond.
In 1940 Miró returned to Spain and began to explore new media including large scale sculpture, ceramics, murals and tapestries. Following his first retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art in 1941, Miró achieved international acclaim and is recognized as a pioneer of Modernism. After 1941, Miró lived mainly in Majorca. He painted murals for hotels in New York City and Cincinnati and for the Graduate Center at Harvard. In 1958 he completed ceramic decorations for the UNESCO buildings in Paris. Many of his canvases are in the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, both in New York City.
