R40,000 - R60,000
Joan Miró (Spanish 1893 - 1983) LE SOLEIL ROUGE (THE RED SUN)
signed and numbered XLII/LXXX in pencil in the margin
colour lithograph on Arches paper
sheet size: 45 by 36,5cm; 54,5 by 46,5 by 5cm including framing
LITERATURE
Catalogue Raisonné: Mourlot, 859
“The outer world, the world of contemporary events, always has an influence on the painter – that goes without saying. If the interplay of lines and colours does not expose the inner drama of the creator, then it is nothing more than bourgeois entertainment. The forms expressed by an individual who is part of society must reveal the movement of a soul trying to escape the reality of the present, which is particularly ignoble today, in order to approach new realities, to offer other men the possibility of rising above the present.”
– Joan Miró
Miró is one of the most important and singular artists of the twentieth century. Miró’s passionate approach to art and life gives his works a great sense of not only vitality and energy, but also joy. This is something that can be felt within The Red Sun. It demonstrates his love of creating characters, bold strong lines and the vibrant colours that reflect his Catalan heritage. The art and culture of Miró’s native Catalonia were powerful forces and symbols in his paintings and are reflected in both the playful effervescence and the dramatic intensity of his radical forms.
For Miró, art making was a kind of reckoning, he describes it as ‘a journey across uncharted terrains guided only by instinct and intuition’ (YSP, 2021). ‘Each time Miró entered his studio, he embarked on a voyage of discovery that was at once artistic and spiritual’ (Miró, Taillander and Lubar, 1964). But Miro was also inspired by the physical world and the red sun is a symbol found in many of the artist’s works. Within this artwork, the large red circle encapsulates and dominates the page. Miró expertly reduces the details to a minimum, whilst still allowing each object to be identifiable. This process of reduction was adopted by the artist on his travels to Paris, the mecca of Avant Garde and Cubism.
Throughout his career Miró embraced and experimented with many different printmaking techniques. Miró saw the printmaking process as something that opened a wealth of new opportunities for further expression. However, he also viewed it a very democratic medium, a way to allow many more people to own his works (YSP, 2021). In 1967 he was introduced to carborundum, a very painterly and textural print medium, which transformed the artist’s later graphic work and through which he said he created ‘images to rival any painting’. Printmaking allowed Miró to ‘express himself without a single hinderance at a burst of spirit’ (YSP, 2021).
-A.H
Miro?, J., Taillandier, Y. and Lubar, R., n.d. Joan Miro?.
Ysp.org.uk. 2021. Miró: Prints. [online] Available at: //ysp.org.uk/exhibitions/miro-prints>
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