Description:Created in 1974, this original color lithograph is one of 24 unique lithographs featured as illustrations for a text, also by Joan Miró. This work is from the total edition of 140 printed on Vélin d’Arches paper (aside from 120 signed and numbered proofs and 20 hors commerce) and is hand signed by Joan Miró (1893 – 1983) in pencil in the lower right. A signed letter written by Mr. Jacques Dupin from the Association pour la Défense de l’œuvre de Joan Miró (ADOM) in Paris accompanies this work. In it, he testifies the uniqueness of the print despite coming from an unnumbered edition; there is also a larger text placard adhered to the reverse of the frame on which the details of the print have been given by the publisher, Tériade éditeur, Paris. Printed by Mourlot, Paris (Jean Célestin).
This charming and whimsical work is one in a series of lively lithographs depicting the birth of Ubu, a character originally created by playwright, Alfred Jarry in 1896. Miró has taken a delightful spin on Ubu, featuring him in three various stages of his colorful infancy. In the play, Ubu Roi, the character is meant to be “notorious for his infantile engagement with the world,” wrote Jane Taylor (2007) in Ubu and the Truth Commission. Miró has clearly taken these surrealist and Freudian themes and has translated them into a composition and world all his own.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
This Miro lithograph 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. Cramer, P. (1992). Joan Miró Lithographs, Vol. V. 1972 – 1975. Maeght éditeur: Paris. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 1004 on pg. 122. Detailed on pg. 118.
2. Cramer, P. (1989). Joan Miró – The Illustrated Books: Catalogue Raisonné. Patrick Cramer Publisher: Geneva. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 204 on pgs. 506-7.
About the Framing:
Conservation framed with archival materials and museum quality, this work is set in a Spanish-style gold and black moulding with a delicate organic motif and a sleek black border. The muted gold hues complement the bright and bold colors within the work. Completed with white, linen-wrapped mats and a matching gold inner fillet, this work is set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.
