Joan Miro (1893-1983)
L’Ete
1938
Lithograph and pouchoir on paper
Signed in the plate lower left
Printed at Mourlot
14 x 10.375 in / 35,5 x 26,4 cm
Framed: 21 x 17.5 in / 53,3 x 44,4 cm

Provenance:
Private Collection, France
By descent to current owner

Reference:
Dupin 1310
Benhoura 396

This lithograph was printed at the atelier Mourlot and published in Paris by Teriade for the art revue Verve (Volume 1, Number 3). Four artists were commissioned to contribute compositions on the four seasons, with Miro choosing Summer.

Miró’s use of vibrant color on flat planes, and curvy geometric shapes was the technique that made him most distinctive amongst other Surrealist or Cubist artists of the time. Those colors were ever apparent, even after the start of The Spanish Civil War in 1936, when the subject matter and feeling behind his work darkened. This era came to be known as Miró’s “wild period,” during which he created angry, disturbing, and politically motivated work. He went on to create propaganda posters for the anti-fascist faction fighting in Spain, such as Aidez l’Espagne (1937), and designed a stamp that fundraised for the republican government.

L’Ete, created in 1938, is certainly a part of Miró’s wild period. Other works from this year include Portrait II, a painting that shares the same curving shapes and colors as L’Ete, and the Black and Red Series, a violent series of drawings that captured the chaos and pain of the time period.

This is an online only sale. Items may be viewed upon appointment in New York City.

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