JOAN MIRO (1893-1983)










Provenance
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New YorkAcquavella Galleries, New York
Hakone Museum, Gora, Japan
Private Collection, Europe
Sale, Sotheby's New York, Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, 4 November 2014, lot 32
Private Collection, California
Literature
Walter Erben, Joan Miró,Cologne, 1988, illustrated in color p. 215Jacques Dupin, Miró, Paintings V. 1969-1975, Paris, 2003, no. 1599, illustrated in color p. 203
History
Boldly painted with a ferocity that belies the expectations we have of a man in his eightieth year, Oiseau, insecte, constellation affirms Miró’s deep-seated interest in the renewal of symbols that occupied him all his life. As a motif, a bird invariably expresses his lifelong concern for independence and freedom. ‘Constellation’, on the other hand is a bit more conflicted; it is as much a celebration of skyward nocturnal vastness and its accompanying themes of wonder, joy, nature as it is of ‘escape’, the theme that illuminates the deepest appreciation for his Constellation masterworks created during the most troubled period of his life between January 1940 and September 1941. Oiseau, insecte, constellation is not a painting that celebrates these themes with the childlike wonderment of the world for which Miró is most often known. But there is something deeply stirring here that aptly demonstrates what gallerist Pepe Pinya expressed when he said a Miró can be “a punch in the face to wake you up.”
MoreMARKET INSIGHTS
- Joan Miro’s importance in the development of Surrealism and 20th Century art is indisputable.
- The graph by Art Market Research shows that since 1976, paintings by Miro have increased at a 4.5% annual rate of return. Miro oil paintings are increasingly difficult to acquire as there is a strong international demand for his work.
- Miro’s Peinture (Étoile Bleue) from 1927 sold for over $37 million at auction in 2012, shattering the existing Miro record. The present work, Oiseau, Insecte, Constellation (1974) is currently available for a more accessible price. Miro’s works from the 1960s and ‘70s have incredible growth potential at their current price level.
- In 2021, one can acquire an important, monumentally scaled Miro oil on canvas for the same cost as a desirable Picasso drawing.
Top Results at Auction




Comparable Paintings Sold at Auction

- Comparable in quality, size, and year. Slightly more color than our piece, though Oiseau, Insecte, Constellation showcases Miro’s masterful use of negative space.
- Both works show Miro’s surrealistic interpretation of the bird, a favored subject of the artist.
- Since the 2009 sale of Femme, oiseau (1972), Miro’s market has increased considerably, including the world record-setting sale for a painting at auction in 2012 when Peinture (Étoile Bleue), sold for $37 million.

- Femme à la voix de rossignol dans la nuit (1971) is the highest value 1970s work to sell at auction. It is larger than our painting, though a comparable period and subject.
- More extensive use of color, though both works showcase Miro’s mastery of oil painting in his mature period.
- As fewer paintings from the 1920s and ‘30s come up for sale, prudent collector’s, museum curators and galleries will look for other historically important periods in Miro’s career. The 1960s and ‘70s works have long been undervalued, a trend we are starting to see change as the limited supply of early paintings enter museum collections where they will likely remain.

- A minimalist composition, lacking the complex compositional elements found in Oiseau, Insecte, Constellation (1974).
- Comparable amount of color.
- Larger than our painting with similar focus on the effect of positive and negative space on a large canvas.
Paintings in Museum Collections



