Woman and Bird in Front of the Sun

Between 1942 and 1944, during World War II when materials were scarce, Joan Miró worked solely on paper. This drawing, dated January 25, 1943, the artist prepared by wiping grey wash and black chalk onto buff paper, and then adding large forms created with crayon in bounding lines, filling in areas and adding color. The work is reminiscent of his earlier Constellations series of 1940 and 1941, which depicted crisply delineated biomorphic and cosmological forms in complex, all-over compositions. As he stated in his note-book, he wanted to “provoke accidents,” not “do pastels.” By rubbing pastel, chalk, and wash into the ground, and reacting to any “accidents” of its surface, he carefully created witty, dream-like drawings such as this.