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Figure (verso)

1940
(Spanish, 1893–1983)
Spain, 20th century
pen and brown ink
Support: White wove paper
Watermarks:
Sheet: 45.8 x 37.9 cm (18 1/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1965.2.b
© Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Did You Know?

This drawing was published in book alongside the other works from Joan Miro's "Constellations" series, accompanied by poems written by André Breton.

Description

This drawing belongs to a group of 23 works made by Joan Miro between January 1940 and September 1941, which he called "Constellations." All were made in Normandy, where the artist had retreated from the Spanish civil war. Miro juxtaposed blurry layers of watercolor in earthy tones with neatly linear lines in black ink and shapes in white gouache to develop his own language of symbols that suggested, in his words, "the night, music, and the stars." The fifth in the series, this drawing is dominated by a vague figural form at center, who draws a comb through her hair while holding a mirror through which shines the moon and a star. The allover abstract composition was a major influence on later artists, following a 1945 exhibition in New York.
Figure (verso)

Figure (verso)

1940

Joan Miró

(Spanish, 1893–1983)
Spain, 20th century

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