Joan Miró: Monumental Printmaking: 13 rare prints by Catalan Spanish artist

Shapero Modern is pleased to announce the opening of a selling exhibition of rare prints by Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramicist Joan Miró (1893-1983) on Monday the 6th of March at its 94 New Bond Street, Mayfair gallery. In the final decade of his life he devoted himself primarily to the art of printmaking, producing some of the most dynamic and ground-breaking prints of his time.

Throughout the 1970s, Miró created several series of prints using a combination of etching and aquatint in a wide variety of formats, as well as experimenting with the innovative addition of carborundum. Many of these works are on a larger scale than anything Miró had ever created before, highlighting the artist’s exceptional command of printmaking techniques. These works were not only monumental in size, but also in the strength of their compositional design. The rich, sooty black of his fluid lines immerses the viewer, enhancing the overwhelming presence of each print and creating a raw, striking visual effect.

The works in this collection represent the culmination of Miró’s printmaking career and his unparalleled ability to evolve as an artist.

Tabitha Philpott Kent, Shapero Modern's Director, says: 'It's an amazing opportunity to have such a fine collection of Miro's large scale works from a private collector. The monumental works are coming to the market for the first time and are in absolutely brilliant condition. These truly vibrant colours are exactly what Miro was so famous for and they haven't lost any of its impact today.'

One of the highlights among the 13 prints on view is Gargantua (pictured above), a more complex work from 1977. This monumental print was created by Miró in collaboration with printmaker Robert Dutrou, using Henri Goetz’s innovative carborundum printmaking technique. The image draws inspiration from the 16th-century pentalogy by François Rabelais, which humorously chronicles the adventures of the two giants, Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. The composition features a dynamic interplay of floating visual elements, layered to create a sense of depth and movement.

Though abstracted in Miró’s signature style, the giant’s colourful eyes emerge distinctly. Dominated by broad, black forms, the image overwhelms the viewer with the enormity of its forms. The print’s dynamic composition, combined with the artist’s use of vibrant reds, blues, and yellows, merges literary reference with artistic style to bring this legendary figure to life.

Le Rat des Sables from 1975 depicts a fantastical creature, ‘the sand rat’, animated by bold, fluid lines and contrasting primary colours. The creature's bright red eye glances innocently at the viewer, adding a playful curiosity to the image. The etching blends abstraction with figuration as Miró pairs his signature black forms with vivid blue and red geometric shapes, creating a striking contrast. Le Rat des Sables is a testament to Miró’s ability to transform a simple creature into a captivating Modernist symbol.

Miró's 1978 work Mambo is a vibrant celebration of movement and rhythm, characterised by its bold and gestural composition. The print depicts a figure formed through splatters, washes, and thick, black outlines that extend out to the edges of the sheet. The swirling lines, ranging from spirals to loops, evoke the fluid motion of the dancing figure. Miró enhances the visual impact with striking accents of red-orange, green, and yellow, creating an electrifying effect that mirrors the dynamic movement of the image. It is a prime example of Miró’s ability to transform physical movement into a visual language, blending abstraction with subtle figurative suggestion to convey the pure vitality of dance.