Joán Miró

Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York

Galería Theo, Madrid

Private Collection, Japan

Russeck Gallery, New York and Palm Beach

Acquired from the above in 2002

Jacques Dupin, Miró, Paris, 1962, no. 770, illustrated p. 558

Jacques Dupin & Ariane Lelong-Mainaud, Joan Miró, Catalogue raisonné. Paintings, 1959-1968, vol. 3, Paris, 2000, no. 881, illustrated in color p. 169

This work is in good condition. Surface is lively and fresh. Some soft creases with associated small loss to the pigment at the lower right corner. Under UV light, small area of inpainting in the black foot at lower left, to the right of the figure's head and along the right edge at the lower right corner. A few other pigments flouresce but appear to be original. The board is slightly uneven at the center of the right edge, otherwise fine.
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.
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Miró's imaginative Oiseau portrays a pictogram which features prominently throughout the artist's oeuvre in varying representations. His late style of expression is exemplified here with luminous color and bold outlines. Margit Rowell elaborates, "Miró's itinerary between 1945 and 1959 [is] marked by a succession of propositions in which the meaning of the verb 'to express' is gradually transformed from the transitive verb 'to represent' (through symbolic imagery) to the intransitive verb 'to be' (through vigorous signs or spontaneous gestures)... Indexes of energy rather than icons of meaning [the artist's] blots and splotches or thick cursive strokes are invested with the rhythms of the artist's inner necessity to make a primary statement of being" (Margit Rowell, Miró, New York, 1970, p. 18).

Oiseau delineates this transition as he plays the thick black outlines of the figure against the undefined areas of rich, glowing color in the background. Combining references to the symbolism of writing and calligraphy with expressive bursts of color, this work indicates a move toward gesture and away from symbolic forms. A key creative inspiration for Miró was writing and reading poetry, something he did on a consistent basis which allowed him to approach each canvas with fresh energy. Miró himself stated, "I make no distinction between poetry and painting." Jacques Dupin summarizes this continuously renewed artistic expression as exemplified in the late stages of his career: "Miró's work is an endless series of transformations: ruptures, objections, successive dissensions and renewed departures... The perpetual revitalization of the painter's vision can only be explained in terms of its expressing more than an idea. Rather, it expresses something like an active presence at the heart of the work's utmost mobility, within its lines and colors" (J. Dupin, Miró, New York, 1993, p. 431).