JOAN MIRO [ATTRIB.] (Spanish) Oil on burlap (jute)

Joan Miro [attrib.] (Spanish, 1893-1983). "Ubu roi". Oil on burlap (jute) laid to board. 1935. Signed lower center, recto. Signed and dated, verso. 22 1/8 x 15 1/16 in. (562 x 383 mm). Condition: Framed under glass. Inspected extensively out of frame. No repairs or additions of any kind, per a black light inspection. The overall condition is very good, with no loss of paint through chipping, flaking, etc. Colors are bright and vibrant. The burlap is rough in a few areas, as to be expected from this material/matrix. Provenance: Private collection, Mexico City. For Miró, the years 1927-1937 were punctuated by great experimentation with different media in his oeuvre. In addition to the conventional use of canvas and paper as supports, the artist proved to be a bold innovator who shattered the barriers of accepted "techniques." Beginning in the late 1920s, he employed tar paper, masonite, burlap (jute) and other found objects on which to create his works. Burlap, rather than traditional canvas as the matrix for his paintings, can be found in two recent sales of his work: "Femme et papillon," oil on burlap, 1939, 9 3/8" x 6 1/4" sold for $326,500 (including premium) at Christie's, New York, May 7, 2009, lot 281; and "Femme VI/VI," oil on burlap, 1960, 13 3/4" x 8 5/8" sold for £228,500 (US$449,160 including premium) at Christie's, London, February 4, 2008, lot 185 (both paintings considerably smaller than our example). In Miró's use of the burlap's texture, his application of paint to that surface, and the look and feel of the painting, our example is strikingly similar to "Femme et papillon." In that example, as ours, Miró used the natural color of the raw burlap, a light brown tan, as his background "color." His bold paint strokes are necessitated by the nature of our example's particularly rough burlap texture, finely painted detail being virtually impossible to achieve. See: Jacques Dupin, "Joan Miró. Life and Work," New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1962; as well as Jacques Dupin and Ariane Lelong-Mainaud, "Joan Miró, Catalogue Raisonne, Paintings, 1908-1981," Volume II (1931-1941), Paris: Daniel Lelong, 2000. [23419]