More than forty years after his death, Joan Miró remains one of the leading figures of twentieth-century art. His work continues to attract sustained interest from institutions and audiences alike. Galerie Lelong has built on a relationship of trust forged with the artist during his lifetime and maintained ever since with his estate, enjoying a special connection with his work for several decades. It is delighted to devote a new exhibition to him, « À l’ombre d’une étoile », presented across the bookshop and exhibition space and bringing together sculptures, preparatory models and prints.
At the bookshop, the exhibition features lithographs produced during Miró’s final years. These include the plates of « Allegro Vivace », as well as « Harlequins », « Columbines » and other characters from his imaginary theatre. With their free-spirited style, freshness and vibrant colours, these works bear witness to the extraordinary creative vitality of an artist who was then over eighty years old. A number of original sketches shed light on the genesis of this artistic universe. Created in gouache, ink, pastel or coloured pencils, they allow visitors to trace the emergence of forms and gain an intimate insight into the artist’s creative process. This collection is complemented by an iconic sculpture from the 1970s, « Le Pèlerin ».
In the exhibition room, one floor up, several other bronze sculptures transform the space into a scene populated by silent figures: « Femme et oiseaux », « Chanteur Mongol » and « Jeune fille à l’étoile » bring to life the figures imagined by Miró. As a counterpoint, there is a rare black-ink drawing from 1973, whose apparent simplicity serves as a reminder of the full power of the artist’s visual vocabulary. This collection is accompanied by a number of prints published after the artist’s death, bearing his signature stamp and certified by his estate. These include the « Montagnards » series, as well as the majestic « Œil bleu du volcan ». Brought together in a single space, these sculptures and works on paper reflect the coherence of a universe in which a few signs, a few colours and a few forms are enough to animate a world of poetry, in the shadow of a star.
