Joan Miró - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session New York Wednesday, May 15, 2019 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Galerie Maeght, Paris
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Exhibited

    Paris, Galerie Maeght, Sculptures, July 23 – September 30, 1970, no. 36, p. 30 (another example illustrated, p. 25)
    Minneapolis, Walker Art Center; The Cleveland Museum of Art; The Art Institute of Chicago, Miró Sculptures, October 1971 – May 28, 1972, no. 51 (another example exhibited and illustrated)
    Kunsthaus Zürich, Joan Miró, Das plastische Werk, June 4 – July 30, 1972, no. 32, p. 49 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 83)
    Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, Sculpture de Miró, Céramiques de Miró et Lloren Artigas, April 14 – June 30, 1973, no. 47, p. 135 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 20)
    Paris, Grand Palais, Joan Miró, May 17 – October 13, 1974, no. 233, p. 152 (another example exhibited)
    Barcelona, Fundació Joan Miró, Exposició d'obertura, June 10, 1975, no. 174, p. 128
    Prato, Palazzo Pretorio Joan Miró: scultura 1931-1972, May 2 - September 30, 1979, no. 11, p. 73 (another example exhibited and illustrated)
    Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, Joan Miró: peintures, sculptures, dessins, céramiques, 1956 – 1979, July 7 – September 30, 1979, no. 157, p. 181 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 98)
    Madrid, Sala de Exposiciones del Centro de Servicios de La Caixa, Miró escultor, November 28 - December 23, 1980 no. 4 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 19)
    Milan, Palazzo Dugnani, Miró Milano: Pittura, Scultura, Ceramica, Disegni, Sobreteixims, Grafica, October 27 – December 6, 1981, p. 249 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 107)
    Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Miró: sculptures and prints, summer 1984, no. 8, p. 38 (another example exhibited)
    Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, Hommage à Joan Miró, March 10 – May 8, 1984, no. 94, p. 32 (another example exhibited)
    The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Miró in Montreal, June 20 – October 5, 1986, no. 9, pp. 68, 240 (another example exhibited and illustrated)
    Madrid, Centro de Arte Reina Sofía; Barcelona, Fundació Joan Miró; Cologne, Museum Ludwig, Miró: escultor, October 21, 1986 – June 8, 1987, no. 61 (another example illustrated and exhibited, p. 76)
    Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle, Miró: Gemälde, Plastiken, Zeichnungen u. Graphik, May 14- July 31, 1988, no. 61 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 92)
    Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung München, Joan Miró Skulpturen, April 7 – June 17, 1990, no. 9, p. 61 (another example exhibited and illustrated)
    Yokohama, Museum of Art, Joan Miró: centennial exhibition, January 11 – March 24, 1992, no. 124 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p.163)
    Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, Miró Sculptures, July 31 – September 20, 1992 (illustrated, p. 16)
    Kolding, Museet på Koldinghus, Miró Skulpturer, February 6 – April 12, 1993, no. 4, p. 30 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 35)
    Stadthalle Balingen, Miró, Sammlung der Fondation Maeght, June 18 – September 4, 1994, no. 45 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 140)
    Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, La sculpture des peintres, July 2 – October 19, 1997, no. 111, p. 312 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 183)
    Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, Joan Miró: le metamorfosi della forma, December 18, 1999 – April 25, 2000 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 96)
    Saint-Paul de Vence, Fondation Maeght, Joan Miró: Métamorphoses des formes, Collection de la Fondation Maeght, April 1 – June 25, 2001, no. 22, p. 222 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 65)
    Andros, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Museum of Contemporary, Joan Miró: in the orbit of the imaginary, June 23 –September 22, 2002, no. 74, n.p. (another example exhibited and illustrated)
    Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Joan Miró, 1893-1983, July 7 – September 30, 2004, no. 11, p. 74 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 75)
    Seville, Sala San Hermenegildo; Cordoba, Sala de Exposiciones Museísticas – CajaSur, Joan Miró, May 3 – July 10, 2005, no. 22, p. 162 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 99)

  • Literature

    Michel Chilo, Miró: l’artise et l’œuvre, Paris, 1971, no. 107, p. 107
    Maria Lluisa Borràs, “Miró chez son fondeur a Barcelone”, XXe siècle, Hommage à Joan Miró, Paris, 1972 (illustrated, p. 103)
    Alain Jouffroy and Joan Teixidor, eds., Miró Sculptures, Paris, 1980, no. 67, p. 299 (another example illustrated, pp. 44, 45)
    Rosa Maria Malet et al., eds., Obra de Joan Miró, Barcelona, 1988, no. 1465, p. 396
    Pere Gimferrer, The Roots of Miró, Barcelona, 1993, no. 1175, p. 401
    Emilio Fernández Miró and Pilar Ortega Chapel, Joan Miró, Sculptures. Catalogue raisonné 1928 - 1982, Paris, 2006, no. 93, pp. 105 (illustrated, p. 104)

  • Catalogue Essay

    A playful subversion of the traditional female bust in sculpture, Joan Miró’s Torse de femme encapsulates how the artist continued to challenge artistic conventions as he shifted his focus from painting to sculpture starting in the late 1950s. "The sculptures from the last two decades of Miró's productive life took on a broad place and force," Jacques Dupin has noted. "For Miró, sculpture became an intrinsic adventure, an important means of expression that competed with the canvas and sheet of paper…without ever simply being a mere derivative or deviation from painting…He dreamt of the street, public squares, gardens and cities. Just as he had always sought to transgress painting, he now sought to transgress his own work” (Jacques Dupin, Miró, Barcelona, 2004, pp. 361- 367). Conceived in 1967, this work is one of three artist’s proofs from an edition of nine casts, of which other examples reside in such prominent collections as the Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid and the Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona.

    Torse de femme presents a powerful continuation of the body of work Miró referred to as Femme. Begun in 1949 with his earliest bronzes, he continued to develop the series further throughout the decades with a remarkably experimental approach. While he created some sculptures by first modeling them in clay, this work was assembled from found objects and then cast in bronze. Torse de femme is a powerful example of how Miró distilled the human form with an aesthetic reminiscent of the Art Brut of Jean Dubuffet, subverting the conventions of traditional sculpture by using what he referred to as “raw materials”. As he explained of his process of using the found materials he collected on strolls through the countryside, “I feel attracted to an object by a magnetic force, without the slightest premediation, and then I feel myself being drawn to another object which is added to the first, and in combination they create a poetic shock, preceded by that visual and physical revelation which makes poetry truly moving…” (Joan Miro, Joan Miro: Selected Writings and Interviews, Boston, 1986, p. 125).

Property from the Miles and Shirley Fiterman Collection

Ο114

Torse de femme

incised with the artist's signature and number "Miró E.A. 1" and stamped with the Fundició Parellada foundry mark on the reverse
bronze with grey and brown patina
25 5/8 x 11 3/8 x 5 3/4 in. (65 x 29 x 14.5 cm.)
Conceived in 1967 and cast by Fundició Parellada, Barcelona, this work is artist's proof number 1 from an edition of 5 plus 3 artist's proofs and 1 nominative cast.

Estimate
$250,000 - 350,000 

Sold for $350,000

Contact Specialist
John McCord
Head of Day Sale, Morning Session
New York
+1 212 940 1261
jmccord@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session

New York Auction 15 May | On View at 432 and 450 Park Avenue