Etching and aquatint with carborundum from 1975.
The edition of 15/50 on on Guarro paper with Sala Gaspar watermark.
Dimensions of work: 70.3 x 85.7 cm.
Hand signed.
Publisher: Sala Gaspar, Barcelona.
Reference: Dupin 870; Cramer 197.
The work is in Good condition.
--
Joan Miró’s Espriu–Miró II (1975) forms part of a collaborative project honouring the Catalan writer Salvador Espriu, whose poetry and prose deeply influenced Miró’s vision of Catalan identity and cultural memory. Rather than illustrating specific verses, Miró responds to Espriu’s atmosphere—his blend of austerity, symbolism, and lyrical clarity—translating it into an abstract visual language marked by intensity and restraint.
The work employs etching, aquatint, and carborundum, a combination that lends both precision and material depth. Carborundum creates dense, gritty surfaces that echo the emotional weight and textured gravity of Espriu’s writing, while the etched lines and aquatint fields introduce rhythm, lightness, and the sense of a poetic gesture unfolding across the sheet. The composition feels at once solemn and vibrant, capturing the dialogue between word and image that defines the Espriu–Miró collaboration.
Printed on Guarro paper with the Sala Gaspar watermark, the work belongs to the edition of 50, this impression numbered 15/50. Measuring 70.3 × 85.7 cm, it is hand-signed and was published by Sala Gaspar, Barcelona, the gallery that served as one of Miró’s closest partners for decades. The print is catalogued in both Dupin (no. 870) and Cramer (no. 197), confirming its place within Miró’s major graphic production of the 1970s.
This example is preserved in good condition, retaining the richness of its carborundum textures and the clarity of Miró’s gestural marks. Espriu–Miró II stands as a powerful testament to Miró’s ability to respond to literature not through representation but through a parallel poetic language—one in which signs, textures, and colours carry emotional resonance equal to that of Espriu’s words.
