Le Permissionnaire is a highly expressive work in which Miró’s mature gesturality gives rise to a truly powerful and singular piece.

As a printmaker, Joan Miró provided amble evidence of his consummate control of technique.His inventiveness and his panache for experimenting with new materials allowed him to bring new methods to the process of engraving that unquestionably enhanced the expressiveness of the work.

As from 1967, Miró began to use carborundum, a printmaking technique invented by Henri Goetz (1909-1989). In contrast with traditional printmaking—based on the use of , dry point or acid— the new material proportioned greater relief thanks to a structure made of elements highly resistant to pressure. The larger dimensions of the paper, reaching up to 160 x 129 cm, made it possible to create monumental engravings, both in size and in the depth of colours and the precision and power of the drawing, which is further reinforced through the material enabled by using carborundum.

His spontaneous, direct way of working with printing techniques is reminiscent of , which he became acquainted with during a trip to New York in 1947; in his work from this period, and this is particularly true for the brushwork, we can also find reminders of his admiration for Japanese painting and calligraphy, which he discovered during his first trip to Japan in 1966.

In pieces like Le Permissionnaire, the artist always started out from a categorical and energetic thick, black brushstroke to which he adds colour; in this case, his signature red, blue, yellow and green. Worth underscoring is the large eye with a blue iris surrounded by lyrical symbols and signs —lines, dots, arrows— as well as an eight-point star, another recurring element in his imaginary. Similarly to Gat i ma, also in the BBVA Collection, in this particular piece there is a hand print, which speaks to the origin of art as a language and as a sign of modernity.

The work seems to look at and question the spectator and, as is always the case with this artist, demands a response.