Galerie Marwan Hoss, Paris
Galeria Oriol, Barcelona

Jacques Dupin & Ariane Lelong-Mainaud, Joan Miró, Catalogue raisonné, Drawings 1901-1937, vol. I, Paris, 2008, no. 425, illustrated p. 206

The sheet has been reinforced with strips of paper along the perimeter and these strips have been mounted to a board. The sheet is a little dirty and lightly stained in some places. Three artist's pinholes along top and bottom edges. Minor mat-staining is visible to extreme outer edges where there are also several quarter to half-inch tears that have been addressed by the supporting strips of paper. There are also a couple extremely minor losses to the far outer edges and corners, and a slightly more noticeable repair is visible running two inches along the bottom-center of the sheet, but otherwise the sheet is fine. The work is in good 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.

Joan Miró arrived in Paris in 1920 and his dreamlike canvases rapidly brought him to the attention of the Surrealist movement. Andre Breton saw in the young Catalan artist "a total spontaneity of expression...unrivalled innocence and freedom" (André Breton, Le Surrealisme et la peinture, Paris, 1965, p. 70) that encapsulated the Surrealist principle of automatism. Miró's works articulate in plastic form Andre Breton's dictum that painting should be the "dictation of thought, in the absence of any control exercised by reason, and beyond any aesthetic or moral occupation" (André Breton, 'Surrealism', This Quarter, vol. V, no. 1, September 1932, p. 16 ), prompting the leader of the Surrealist movement to comment that Miró was, "the most surrealist of us all."

The present work is typical of the unique pictorial language that Miró invented, and the work perfectly encapsulates the artist's aim of generating life and dynamism through the interaction of dream-like figurative elements and color. Despite only the vaguest sense of subject or narrative content, the work amounts to a pictorial poem describing Miró's very personal view of the world.