Joan Miró:
Illustrated Books
Curated by Robin McCarthy
Parler Seul, 1948-1950, poem by Tristan Tzara, Paris, Maeght Éditeur
Càntic del Sol, 1975, Text by Francesc d'Assis, Barcelona, Editorial Guatau Gili, S.A.
Les Pénalités de L'Enfer on les Nouvelles-Hébrides, 1974, Text by Robert Desnos, Paris, Maeght Éditeur.
Catalan artist Joan Miró (1893–1983) deeply embraced the illustrated book as a major form of artistic expression, creating over 250 titles in his lifetime.
Joan Miró: Illustrated Books highlights this legacy through twelve selected publications spanning his career. Though celebrated primarily as a painter, Miró often turned to other media—sculpture, ceramics, murals, and especially printmaking—to explore new artistic languages. His artist books, or livres d’artiste, reflect his profound love of literature, fostered by friendships with poets like Paul Éluard and Tristan Tzara.
Miró developed a poetic visual vocabulary using abstract symbols and biomorphic forms, blending text and image in a uniquely interpretive way. His works do not illustrate texts literally but rather offer abstract, rhythmic visual counterparts to poetry. From the 1960s to the early 1980s, Miró’s illustrated books demonstrated the same vibrant use of color, line, and form found in his paintings, affirming his mastery of visual storytelling across formats.
WORKS
70
DIMENSIONS
20 x 24 to 24 x 60 (inches)
SPACE REQUIREMENTS
Aprox. 2500 square feet
INQUIRIES
exhibitions@curatorial.org
626.577.0044