Original lithograph published in 1956 by Galerie Maeght in "Joan Miro", by Jaques Prevert and Georges Dessaignes Ribemont.
It is a small untitled lithograph used to decorate the opening page of the book, the frontispiece.
Referenced in "Joan Miro - The Illustrated Books" the Catalogue Raisonné of Miro's works, by Patrick Cramer.
Joan Miro was a Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealismbut with a personal style, sometimes also veering into Fauvism and Expressionism. He was notable for his interest in the unconscious or the subconscious mind, reflected in his works.
Miró initially went to business school as well as art school but soon abandoned the business world completely for art. His early art, was inspired by van Gogh and Paul but later he developed a more individual style of painting and certain nationalistic qualities. Eventually joining the Surrealist movement, he did not abandon form entirely and later returned to a more representational form of painting.
He developed a close relationship with Fernand Mourlot (Paris) and that resulted in the production of over one thousand different lithographic editions of his works and many original lithographs.
Miro died in 1983 leaving behind a large body of works which have remained influential to artists to the present day.
Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes (1884 – 1974) was a French anti-art painter, writer, poet, musician, playwright closely associated with the the Dada movement. He attended the Académie Julian and the Ecole Beaux-Arts de Paris where he met Raymond Duchamp-Villon and through him met his brothers Marcel Duchamp and Jacques Villon. He joined their artistic circle at Puteaux, alongside painters Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes and Fernand Leger and he became one of the leading members of the French Dada group.
He also wrote books and articles about Modern Art artists, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Jean Dubuffet and Joan Miro and recorded radio interviews with Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. He also drew landscapes and published several books of his poetry.