Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893–1983)
Oiseaux, étoile, constellations
1973–1977
Gouache, pen and India ink, and charcoal on paper
44.5 × 57 cm (17½ × 22½ in.)
Signed Miró, lower left
Dated and inscribed on the reverse: 29/VII/77. oiseau, étoile, constellations 8/III/73.
Accompanied by authentication documentation from ADOM (Association pour la défense de l’oeuvre de Joan Miró) and Jacques Dupin / Successió Miró
Provenance:
Private Collection
Christie’s, London, Impressionist/Modern Works on Paper, Lot 151
Private Collection, Spain
Price: on request
Location: Spain
About the Work
Oiseaux, étoile, constellations is a vibrant and particularly engaging work on paper that brings together many of the most recognizable elements of Joan Miró’s visual language: birds, stars, celestial forms, brilliant primary colors and spontaneous calligraphic line.
Executed over a period beginning in 1973 and completed in 1977, the composition is organized around a dramatic black diagonal separating a luminous red field from the open ground of the paper. Against it, Miró introduces intense passages of yellow and blue, floating signs and an animated bird-like figure rendered in expressive black ink.
The result is at once playful and sophisticated. With remarkably economical means, Miró creates an entire poetic universe in which figures, birds and constellations seem to move freely between earth and sky. The vivid red, yellow, blue and black palette gives the work exceptional wall presence while remaining immediately identifiable with the artist’s mature vocabulary.
At 44.5 × 57 cm, the work is substantial for a Miró work on paper and presents beautifully in a residential or collection setting.
Authentication & Market History
The work is accompanied by important authentication documentation associated with Jacques Dupin / Successió Miró and ADOM (Association pour la défense de l’oeuvre de Joan Miró). The supplied Dupin documentation specifically records the work’s dimensions of 44.5 × 57 cm and bears the Successió Miró stamp.
The work also has established auction history, having previously been offered at Christie’s, London, where it was catalogued under its full title, Oiseaux, étoile, constellations.
A particularly colorful and immediately recognizable example of Miró’s mature works on paper, combining excellent scale, strong provenance and authentication with some of the artist’s most desirable imagery.
