Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Alain Jouffroy and Joan Teixidor, Miró Sculptures, Paris, 19🍒73, no. 183, illustr𝓀ated p. 127 (catalogued as unique)

Pere Gimferrer, The Roots of Miró, Barcelona, 1993, no. 1261, illustrated p. 407

Emilio Fernández Miró and Pilar Ortega Chapel, Joan Miró, Sculptures. Catalogue raisonné, 1928-1982, Paris, 2006, no. 210, illustration of another cast p. 209

The bronze rests securely on a steel base. The patina is of a mottled green and brown texture. There is a tiny scratch on the proper left corner of the steel plate base, but the bronze itself is unblemished. This work is in excellent condition.
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.

Femme et oiseau was created from found objects that the artist assembled and cast in bronze.  For this assemblage, Miró transformed the head of a common shovel into the head of totemic, female figure.  The artists further confounded and subverted the utility of the form by adding a row of sharp nails along the handle, creating a somewhat menacing aspect to this otherwise playful composition.  The combination of "woman" and "bird" is 𓆏a common theme through Miró's art and, in this composition, the bird is whimsically perched atop the corner of the woman's head.

With regard to the assembled sculptures, the artist explained𒈔, "Real objects, by being used, related and assembled in different manners, become unreal.  The parts are familiar, yet the totality has a new life, a new meaning ... when they are cast in bronze, they take on a noble and timeless quality" (Miró Scupture, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1976).  While Miró's bronzes from the 1940s were hand modeled and inspired by the work of Brancusi and an interest in primitive art, his bronzes cast from assembled found objects, according to Jacques Dupin, "Have their roots in Surrealist collage and Goya's Caprices, and incorporate the wonder of childhood wit he the rustic, rough humour of the Catalans.  These assemblages favour the automatic association of images ♊and fantasy" (Miró and Chapel, p. 21).

The archaic quality of the present bronze is further enhanced by its extraordinary patina.  Working with the Parellada Foundry, "Miró chose a patina which preserved the rough and varied 'fire skin', or the unfinished surface of the bronze metal as it appears when emerging from the mould.  This technique produced a variegated surface pattern, green in colour, which imitated the accidental variations in surface resulting from the high temperatures reached in casting.  This was a calculated effect, however, requiring as much effort on the part of the foundry artisans as more classically inspired surfaces" (William Jeffett, A Note on the techniques of Bronze Casting, Joan Miró Sculpture, South🧔 Bank C𒊎enter Touring Exhibition, 1989-90, p. 19).

The present bronze was originally made by Miró as a unique sculpture created by the sand casting method at the Fundació Parellada in Barcelona.  Later on, three additional  bronzes were cast: one is in the colꩲlection of the Fundació Joan Miró and another at the Museu Nacional centro de Arte Reina Sofia. The present work is the very first, unnumbered cast of this subject in bronze that was created during the artist's lifetime.  The 𒀰present owner acquired it directly from the artist's dealer, Pierre Matisse, in New York.