Joan Miro (1893-1983) - L'Issue dérobée

Joan Miró Ferrà
L’Issue dérobée, 1974
Original etching in mixed technique — drypoint and color aquatint —.
Print realized in Paris in 1974 within the graphic project conceived by Joan Miró for L’Issue dérobée, with text by poet Jacques Dupin. The work is signed in pencil by the artist on the recto and marked “H.C.” —hors-commerce— in the lower left corner.
This is an hors-commerce impression belonging to a very small edition of only 20 H.C. specimens, a circumstance that makes it an especially scarce piece on the market.
The composition clearly reflects the language of mature Miró: a network of free black lines and graphic constellations that traverse the space with spontaneity, balanced by a strong central chromatic core in red, yellow, and blue. The drypoint contributes an incisive, material vibration, while the color aquatint introduces depth and luminosity.
Sheet untrimmed, with full margins and original fawns visible, printed on Arches Vélin paper.
Sheet dimensions: 502 × 325 mm.
Frame dimensions: 60 × 64 cm.
Excellent condition: no foxing and outstanding sharpness and color freshness. The paper preserves its uniform tone and structural stability. It is presented in a vintage 1970s–1980s frame, in good condition.
The work comes directly from the private collection of a historic French gallerist, a figure linked to the international art circuit of the second half of the 20th century and directly associated with artists of the stature of Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró. This provenance adds especially significant context to the piece, both for its proximity to the artistic milieu of the time and for the quality of the origin collection.
For reasons of discretion and privacy, the complete identity of the gallerist and the specific provenance details will be communicated exclusively to the final purchaser.
Work documented in Patrick Cramer, Catalogue raisonné des livres illustrés, p. 460, no. 187.
A piece of great graphic strength and notable rarity, representative of Miró at his most free and poetic in the mid-1970s.