Joan Miró created his first print in 1928, when he illustrated Il était une petite pie, a book of poems by Lise Hirtz. Ever afterwards his graphic work developed in parallel with his painting, viewing it as a potentially unlimited field of possibilities to experiment with techniques, methods and languages. This innovative way of working gave the artist not only an opportunity to expand his technical repertoire but also helped him to reach a greater audience. Winning the Grand Prize for Graphic Work at the Venice Biennale in 1954 proves the importance this medium had acquired in his practice as a whole.

For Miró, printmaking was a true laboratory for experimentation. In this sense, another major influence was his trip to the USA in the 1940s. In 1947 he started working at

 Atelier 17 

A printmaking studio founded by Stanley William Hayter (1901-1988). With a BA in Physics and Geology, Hayter is considered one of the most important twentieth-century engravers. Through this studio, which first opened in Paris in 1927, he championed a new approach to engraving, foregrounding artists’ expressive and visual freedom, which allowed them to achieve innovative results in the field of graphic arts. During World War II, Atelier 17 relocated to New York, and moved back to Paris in 1950. Artists who worked there include Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Joan Miró (1893-1983), José Guerrero (1914-1991) Alberto Giacometti (1901- 1966), Yves Tanguy (1900-1955), Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) and Mark Rothko (1903-1970).

in New York, a print studio founded in 1927 by the British printmaker Stanley William Hayter (1901-1988) which would become a focus for visual research in which all sorts of new methodologies and processes were implemented with the goal of undertaking a contemporary reformulation of traditional printmaking.

On returning from the United States, Miró intensified his graphic work, particularly in the field of lithography, thanks to the support of the Parisian editor and gallerist Aimé Maeght. An interesting example is this work, Poètes, sculpteurs, peintres, belonging to Album 19, edited by Maeght in 1961 in Paris and consisting of a preface by Raymond Queneau and 26 lithographs showcasing Miró’s most expressive facet. The work combines his signature automatic calligraphic marks with vibrant areas of colour floating freely throughout the composition, evoking his cosmic universes from the early 1940s. The explosion of red harks back to the powerful painting of the circle of American abstract painters Miró had met during his time in New York and which would be become a decisive influence in his 1970s work. In addition, the artist also introduced the written word, an element closely associated with Surrealism and with poetry which would play a major role throughout his career.

A prior version of Poètes, sculpteurs, peintres was used for the poster of the show of the same title held in 1960 at Galerie Maeght. One year later, Miró made some changes to the work and included it as illustration no. 17 in Album 19.