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拍品专文
Having created a unique visual lexicon in the realm of painting, during the final years of the Second World War Miró developed an interest in ceramics and entered into close collaboration with the Spanish potter Josep Llorens Artigas. Artigas and Miró had been close friends since 1912, when both were enrolled at the art school run by Francesc Galí in Barcelona. The two young students had been founding members of the Grupo Courbet, a loose association of artists, and maintained their friendship following Miró's relocation to Paris in 1920.
When Miró approached Artigas in the early 1940s and suggested that the two work together, the ceramist had his reservations about collaborating with his friend. Though Miró had made some Surrealist constructions using found objects during the 1930s, he was, above all, a painter, and inexperienced at adorning forms in the round. Though concerned that Miró would have difficulty adapting to the unique demands of ceramics and would view the three-dimensional forms simply as surfaces to be decorated, Artigas was ultimately persuaded to join forces with his old friend. From 1944 to 1946, the two produced several large vases and countless decorative tiles fired by Artigas and decorated by Miró. As the Spanish painter grew increasingly comfortable with the medium, he became more responsive to its inherent surface qualities. Abandoning the painterly approach which characterized his early gem-like tiles, he began to commission more daring three-dimensional shapes from Artigas and resisted the urge to neutralize the textured surface of the clay or terracotta with coats of enamel.
Miró again worked with Artigas from 1953-1956, initially on a series of sculptures collectively labeled Terres de grand feu. The series explored the prevalence of natural shapes in everyday objects--cups, plates, and other varied forms. Miró was by now sufficiently comfortable in the medium to create his own models using found objects and clay, which Artigas would subsequently fire on his behalf. The present work dates from this second period of collaboration, and demonstrates Miró's heightened interest in the use of found materials as well as his mature resistance to overt adornment of any kind. Its title, Grande figure debout, transforms an otherwise seemingly abstract assemblage into a whimsical humanoid being. With a tiny u-shaped head, outstretched arms, a triangular torso, a distinctly human pelvis, and two unmistakable legs, the abstracted human form of Grande figure debout is exemplary of Miró's ever-present comic insights and exaggerated representation of the human figure. In a departure from his earlier ceramic experiments in which adornment played a dominant role, the present work is devoid of obvious ornamentation. Here, the terracotta has been painted, but in such a way as to resemble distressed, oxidized metal. Small pebbles have been incorporated into the base, heightening the rough surface quality of the terracotta. As in Miró's painted oeuvre, with its unique visual vocabulary, the overall effect of Grande figure debout is at once sophisticated and primitive, cerebral and intuitive.
(fig. 1) Installation view of Miró-Artigas exhibition with the present lot at Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1956. BARCODE 25012644
When Miró approached Artigas in the early 1940s and suggested that the two work together, the ceramist had his reservations about collaborating with his friend. Though Miró had made some Surrealist constructions using found objects during the 1930s, he was, above all, a painter, and inexperienced at adorning forms in the round. Though concerned that Miró would have difficulty adapting to the unique demands of ceramics and would view the three-dimensional forms simply as surfaces to be decorated, Artigas was ultimately persuaded to join forces with his old friend. From 1944 to 1946, the two produced several large vases and countless decorative tiles fired by Artigas and decorated by Miró. As the Spanish painter grew increasingly comfortable with the medium, he became more responsive to its inherent surface qualities. Abandoning the painterly approach which characterized his early gem-like tiles, he began to commission more daring three-dimensional shapes from Artigas and resisted the urge to neutralize the textured surface of the clay or terracotta with coats of enamel.
Miró again worked with Artigas from 1953-1956, initially on a series of sculptures collectively labeled Terres de grand feu. The series explored the prevalence of natural shapes in everyday objects--cups, plates, and other varied forms. Miró was by now sufficiently comfortable in the medium to create his own models using found objects and clay, which Artigas would subsequently fire on his behalf. The present work dates from this second period of collaboration, and demonstrates Miró's heightened interest in the use of found materials as well as his mature resistance to overt adornment of any kind. Its title, Grande figure debout, transforms an otherwise seemingly abstract assemblage into a whimsical humanoid being. With a tiny u-shaped head, outstretched arms, a triangular torso, a distinctly human pelvis, and two unmistakable legs, the abstracted human form of Grande figure debout is exemplary of Miró's ever-present comic insights and exaggerated representation of the human figure. In a departure from his earlier ceramic experiments in which adornment played a dominant role, the present work is devoid of obvious ornamentation. Here, the terracotta has been painted, but in such a way as to resemble distressed, oxidized metal. Small pebbles have been incorporated into the base, heightening the rough surface quality of the terracotta. As in Miró's painted oeuvre, with its unique visual vocabulary, the overall effect of Grande figure debout is at once sophisticated and primitive, cerebral and intuitive.
(fig. 1) Installation view of Miró-Artigas exhibition with the present lot at Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, 1956. BARCODE 25012644