Exhibiting his wonderfully detailed surrealist imagery, Joan Miró Le Chien Bleu (The Blue Dog), 1959, expresses a spirit of freedom and originality. Full of bright hues and contrasting tones with painterly applications of color, this work is a dazzling display of his mastery of skill and technique. Designed with lyrical lines and playful characters, this work illustrates the artist’s free expression with a wonderful array of colors. A vibrant blue crescent moon sits in the upper right, with a variety of figures in black with accents of red, blue, green and yellow. The background of earthy ochre and yellow allows the linear and solid figures to stand out in strong contrast, and creates a textural and tactile experience. Jacques Dupin discussed the original paintings from this time period, “The spirit does not, to him, exist alone or prior to things. It emanates from them. What expresses it on the canvas, its vehicle – the play of line and color, the plastic values and rhythm – must similarly emanate from a progressive animation of the materials, from the living, emotionally inspiring substance that is the ground…Actually these paintings constitute (though this has never been said before) one of the most important ‘series’ in this artist’s work.” (Dupin 393)

Created in 1959, this color etching and aquatint on Arches wove ‘BFK Rives’ paper was created after an untitled painting by Miró from 1949. Hand signed by the artist in pencil in the lower right margin, this piece is numbered from the edition of 300 in pencil in the lower left margin. This work was printed by Atelier Crommelynck, Paris and published by Maeght, Paris.

Documented and Illustrated In:

1) Dupin, Jacques, Joan Miró, Life and Work, the original painting is listed as cat no 725 on pg 555.

2) Dupin, Jacques and Ariane Lelong-Mainaud, Joan Miró Catalogue raisonné. Paintings, Vol III: 1942-1955, 2001, original painting listed as cat no 827 on pg 133.

3) Eaux-fortes et Lithographies Originales, Numérotées et Signées – Estampes à Tirage Limité. Maeght Editeur, 1959. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 1714 on pg. 97.

4) A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Framed to archival museum grade conservation standards, Joan Miró Le Chien Bleu (The Blue Dog), 1959, is framed in a complementary moulding with silk mats and optical grade Plexiglas.