Joan Miró (Spanish, 1893-1983)


Francesc d'Assis, Càntic del Sol, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona, 1975 (Cramer Books 196; Dupin 833-867) The complete set of 33 etchings and aquatints in colours, on Guarro wove paper, with the title, text in Catalan, justification and colophon, signed in pencil and numbered 170 in ink on the justification, from the standard edition of 220 (the total edition was 273), the full sheets, all in very good condition, loose (as issued), within the grey paper folder and yellow cloth-covered boards with the title in red on the spine,and portfolio box with the artist's signature in red on the coverSheet 503 x 350mm.Folio 400 x 540mm.
|Miro's discovery of Saint Francis of Assisi's poem Cantic del Sol in 1963, in which the saint advocates cosmic brotherhood with the elements, struck a strong chord with an artist who had a love and passion for absolute nature and the Catalonian landscape; and a visual language filled with symbols. Mirò responded to Saint Francis's hymn to the Creator not only in his calligraphy and intaglio prints but also in the interplay of image and text. Structured like a cathedral, the text acted like the nave's columns and the illustrations like the illuminations from the stained-glass windows.