Joan Miró (1893–1983), “Hommage à Gaudí” (Tribute to Gaudí), 1979

Color lithograph; 60 x 51 cm (original sheet 63.2 x 52.5); mounted in a frame measuring 87 x 71 cm; large lithographic signature “MIRO”; edition of 2,000 copies
Publisher: Galería Maeght, Barcelona, 1979
Producer: Litografias Artísticas Damia Caus, Barcelona.
References: Catalogue raisonné, Patrick Cramer, *Der Litographe 1976–1981*; Weber, Geneva, 1992; vol. VI; no. 1188; p. 115
Original large-format Miró lithographs are extremely rare on the European art market.

This lithograph was created to promote an exhibition and the publication of the famous series of 21 prints titled the Gaudí Series in 1979. It was Miró’s tribute to the visionary architecture of Antoni Gaudí. Although Miró and Gaudí represented different eras (Gaudí died when Miró was a young man), the artist was fascinated throughout his life by the architecture of the creator of the Sagrada Família. Both were deeply connected to nature and the Catalan landscape. Miró considered Gaudí to be the “first Surrealist,” admiring his organic forms and his boldness in breaking architectural rules.
In his late 80s, working with the Maeght Gallery, Miró achieved an unprecedented level of creative freedom and a lightness of brushwork. The Maeght Gallery’s headquarters were in Paris, but in 1970 a branch was established in Barcelona (in a beautiful palace on Carrer de Montcada). This was a gesture of recognition of Miró’s Catalan roots.
Miró was associated with the Maeght family (particularly with Aimé and Marguerite) for nearly his entire career. It was the Maeght Gallery in Barcelona that was responsible for promoting his late series of prints, including those inspired by Gaudí.
The frames shown in the renderings are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute a commercial offer.