Joan MIRO - Original Print - Etching - Untitled (A poem in each Paul Eluard book) 1

Artist: Joan MIRO (1893-1993)
Title: Untitled, 1955
Technique and support: Etching on thick paper
Type of work: Original print signed by hand by the artist in pencil at the bottom right, numbered 2/2, and annotated "Epreuve d'artiste". This artist's proof was published in addition to the unsigned edition of 120 copies of illustration 11 of the tribute book to Paul Eluard "A poem in each book" published by Louis Broder in 1956. In the book, illustration 11 is positioned next to Paul Eluard's poem "Like two drops of water" taken from "the public rose" (1934). The work comes from the album called "Album A", Reprinted from the book in 20 copies. Each album contains, like the book, 16 prints (including this work by Joan Miro) but they were printed with wide margins and unlike the prints in the book, they are all signed or monogrammed by the artists. The album we have was the property of the publisher Louis BRODER. It stands out from the others because it is enriched in addition to the 16 large-margined illustrations with many other prints collected by the publisher throughout his collaboration with the artists on this book.
Dimensions: 32 x 50 cm (image 13 x 30 cm)
Condition: Good, very slight crease in the upper right margin which will be almost invisible to the frame
Provenance: Genevieve and Jean Paul Kahn collection

Expert's comment : Miró rubs shoulders with André Breton, Paul Eluard, Robert Desnos and Jacques Prévert. He is a painter but at one time poetry "interested him more than anything". The poet, like the artist, is the one who dreams, who perceives what others cannot see. As usual, Miro makes this intimate and nostalgic poem by Eluard sing "like two drops" by the richness of its colors and the expressiveness of its characters.

The Album and the Book :

Explanatory photo 1: Comparison between Album A offprint of "a poem in each book" printed in 20 copies and the book "a poem in each book" printed in 120 copies.
Explanatory photo 2: Album A offprint of 20 copies having belonged to the publisher Louis Broder contained in a gray canvas box with a label stuck on the back and the first cover.
Explanatory photo 3: Proof of printing of Album A which indicates the maximum number of copies of prints contained in total in the 20 albums as well as the names of the artists. It is annotated in red pencil "Editor's copy B" because it belonged to Louis Broder.
Explanatory photo 4: Original print signed and printed with wide margins by Pablo Picasso, contained in album A
Explanatory photo 5: Original print signed and printed with large margins by Max Ernst, contained in album A
Explanatory photo 6: Book "a poem in each book" printed in 120 copies, containing the 16 prints unsigned by the artists (signatures on the proof of printing of the book)
Explanatory photo 7: Print by Pablo Picasso on double page, unsigned contained in the book "a poem in each book"
Explanatory photo 8: Print by Max Ernst unsigned contained in the book "a poem in each book"

To discover in pictures the history of Album A and the rare prints it contains, click on the video below !

Biography of the artist : Joan Miró was born in Barcelona in 1893. He immersed himself very early in a creative universe and undertook a course in plastic arts, at the School of Fine Arts. In his early days, Joan Miró bore his mark on different artistic movements, starting with Fauvism, then Cubism and Expressionism. It was only when he arrived in Paris, in 1919, that he would flourish more artistically and turn to a fantasy that would be permanently attached to him. In 1924, fascinated by the unconscious, it is quite naturally that he will approach the group of surrealists. His new gouache partners will be called André Breton, Paul Eluard, and Philippe Soupault.​

History of the book and the album: We advise you to read our blog "THE ALBUM OF LOUIS BRODER: A LEGENDARY PORTFOLIO".

About Paul ELUARD : We advise you to read our blog "PAUL ELUARD: THE CHOSEN ONE OF THE ART".

A few lines from the poem "like two drops of water":
Looking for salamanders
green flames
black flames
A pale summer
To reduce a great sorrow
During the holidays
drinking milk
In the meadows
Like a child
will die at night
...