Joan Miró

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York (acquired from the artist)

Private Collection,  New York

James Goodman Gallery, New York

Private Collection, Palm Beach

Sale: Sotheby's, New York, May 9, 2007, lot 380

Private Collection (acquired at the above sale)

Miró en las colecciones del Estado (exhibition catalogue), Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 1987, no. 89, illustration of another cast p. 104
Miró: Gemälde, Plastiken, Zeichnungen und Graphik (exhibition catalogue), Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 1988, no. 89, illustration of another cast p. 120
Le rêve interrompu de Miró (exhibition catalogue), Centre Culturel Espagnol, Paris, 1988, no. 41, illustration of another cast p. 133
Escultores de Miró (exhibition catalogue), Llonja, Palma de Mallorca, 1990, no. 23, illustration of another cast p. 141
Palma: territori Miró (exhibition catalogue), Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca, 1996, no. 68, illustration of another cast p. 183
Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Joan Miró The Last Bronze Sculptures 1981 -1983, 2006, illustration of another cast pp. 42-43
Emilio Fernández Miró & Pilar Ortega Chapel, Joan Miró, Sculptures. Catalogue raisonné 1928-1982, Paris, 2006, no. 374, illustration of another cast in color p. 347 (as measuring 103 by 46.5 by 29.5 cm)

The sculpture is in generally excellent condition. The surface bears a mottled, drippy patina of ochre, brown and light green that is in very good condition. The bronze is clean with no significant scratches or abrasions noted on the surface. The sculpture is structurally sound and sits on a wooden base.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Many of Miró's late sculptures are assemblages of found objects which he cast in bronze. According to Duncan Macmillan, "From these transformed objects, Miró produces personnages, women, birds, and combinations of all three. These new creations are invested with the mysterious animation of the artist's touch and yet retain an unbreakable link with the ordinary. They become a metaphor for the infinite variety and absolute peculiarity of human individuality" ("Miró's Public Art," Miró in America (exhibition catalogue), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1982, p. 111). 

The touch of the artist's hand lingers on this rough, disproportionate and asymmetrical figure, instilling the work with seldom-visible vestiges of the creative process.   As a result, Figure is more than merely a final product of artistic vision; it is imbued with a character belonging to the realm somewhere between conception and execution.  Like much of the artist's work, the composition departs from representation and reality in an attempt to stimulate the imagination.

This sculpture was cast in a bronze edition numbered 0-6 during the artist's lifetime.  Examples from the numbered edition are at the collection of the Fondació Joan Miró in Barcelona and the Pierre and Maria Gaetana Matisse Fondation in New York.  Miró's Estate also authorized the casting of a bronze in 1987 for the Reina Sofia in Madrid and another in 1989 for the Fons d'Art de la Generalitat de Catalunya.