Joan Miro (1893-1983) - Litografia Original IV

Joan Miró, ORIGINAL-Lithography No. IV from 1972 from the estate of a southern German collector, size 315 mm x 495 mm, Mourlot No. 860 from Volume I of the catalogue raisonn�, published by Poligrafo, Barcelona

Colorful, never framed, stored in the graphic cabinet.

An ORIGINAL lithograph is, in principle, pulled during the artist’s lifetime either by the artist himself or under his supervision, or on his commission, from the lithographic stone, which after the printing of all copies of the edition, usually becomes unusable for further prints.

In contrast, in lithography (without the addition “Original”) the artist is not involved in the printing process, or is already deceased. The term “lithography” so designates only the printing process, while “Original Lithography” not only denotes the printing process but also the participation of the respective artist in the production process. Often the artists directly painted the lithography stone themselves or, with the lithographer’s help, made a transfer of their image onto the lithography stone.

With an original lithograph, the individual prints are identical at first glance. In fact, however, they differ in tiny nuances created by the varying application of color with each print.

For original graphics, a single impression of a limited edition up to 100 copies can be equally valuable and is also referred to and regarded as an “Original.”

The original lithograph offered here can be recognized by the central fold created during incorporation into the catalogue raisonné, as well as by the small ticks of the thread binding in the fold. Also visible is the typography set in lead type on the back side, as well as the imprint (color transfer) on the back of the sheet that is more or less pronounced on every original lithograph. The paper itself is also crucial for the authenticity of an original lithograph. It is by considering the totality of these essential features that one recognizes an Original Lithograph.

Original lithographs by Joan Miró were always pulled from the stone. In the present original lithograph, seven colors were used. Thus seven different printing stones were prepared, and then one color after another was printed onto the paper. If one were to produce such an original lithograph today, the lithographic printing costs alone would amount to 100 euros per copy.

The lithographic process derives its name from the Greek lithos, meaning stone. Since the latter third of the 20th century, so-called offset lithographs have also been produced, in which prints are not pulled from a stone but where the individual colors are sequentially printed on paper in unhalftone offset printing. This also yields superb prints without the very laborious and time-consuming processing of the individual printing stones. However, in offset printing the term lithography is misleading, as no stone is used but rather a conventional thin metal or plastic plate.