In 1928, Joan Miró made his first foray into the field of graphic art, which immediately occupied a central part in his practice that he would develop in parallel with his painting. The newly discovered medium gave him great creative freedom and became an ideal tool for visual experimentation that produced highly interesting results.

Miró’s earliest graphic works were notable for the prevalence of black and white. After spending some time in the USA—in the 1940s he was commissioned with the creation of a mural painting in Cincinnati—the artist began to introduce colour, probably influenced by the monumental colourful compositions of American abstract artists. With the passing of the years he would master printmaking and the use of colour, something clearly visible in the compositional freedom and chromatic quality of his works.

From his first steps as a printmaker, his works were closely linked with the field of poetry. Dated as far back as 1928, his earliest work was the illustration for Il était une petite pie, a delicate book of poems by Lise Hirtz. His engagement with printmaking intensified from the 1950s onwards, when, following the Second World War, Miró re-established his contact with the circle of poets he had met in Paris in the 1920s. Then, with the help of his unconditional supporter Aimé Maeght, the artist increased his graphic production, particularly in the field of lithography, with the publication of illustrated books and magazines like Derrière le miroir.

This work from the BBVA Collection is an interesting example of the meeting between Miró’s lithographic practice and literature. The piece belongs to Album 21, a collection of poems by Carlos Franqui, edited by Maeght in 1978 in Paris. The publication includes 21 colour lithographs by Joan Miró that readily evince the artist’s mastery of lithography. In this piece, a true display of compositional freedom, we can ascertain the artist’s fascination with calligraphy and the eloquent gesturality of . Created by Miró at the age of 85, it re-enacts a world of fantasy, reminiscent of his works from the 1920s, conceived as childhood universes inviting the beholder to escape reality. The artist’s interest in drawing is expressed here through a graphic technique that mimics the quick and impromptu mark of the pencil on the paper.