Printed Originals · atlas of original posters · map 1
Joan Miró A night sky of signs · original posters, 1969–2019
Miró built a language of signs and set them in skies. Here every poster we have held is one point of light, plotted and catalogued. 7 were printed in his lifetime. 5 came after.
Read the chart 9 available now
Key
- Printed in his lifetime 7
- Printed after 25 December 1983 5
- Ringed: available now 9
- Line: shown in the same country
Map 2 · The chart · twelve points, three constellations
Every poster, plotted.
Between January 1940 and September 1941 Miró painted 23 small gouaches now known as the Constellations. This chart borrows only the idea of a sky. Each point is a poster we have held, placed by the country where it was shown. Lines join the points of one country.
Point at a star, tab to it, or tap it. Its entry opens beside the chart and its lines draw in. Then turn the printer’s key.
- Pasadena 1969 : printed in his lifetime, available now. Open entry 1.
- New York 1975 : printed in his lifetime, available now. Open entry 2.
- Barcelona 1976 : printed in his lifetime. Open entry 3.
- Paris 1978 : printed in his lifetime, available now. Open entry 4.
- España 82 : printed in his lifetime, available now. Open entry 5.
- Barcelona 1982 : printed in his lifetime, available now. Open entry 6.
- Paris, c.1983 : printed in his lifetime. Open entry 7.
- Vitoria 1986 : printed after 1983, available now. Open entry 8.
- Riom 1990 : printed after 1983, available now. Open entry 9.
- Barcelona 1993 : printed after 1983. Open entry 10.
- Humlebæk, reprint : printed after 1983, available now. Open entry 11.
- Saint-Paul 2019 : printed after 1983, available now. Open entry 12.
Points placed by country of the show, not to scale. Our own plain shapes: no sign here is Miró’s.
Finder
Choose a point.
Twelve posters, three constellations. France holds the Maeght posters; Spain holds Barcelona and the World Cup; further afield are Pasadena, New York and Denmark.
No. 1 · printed in his lifetime
Pasadena Art Museum, California
1969
The foot: “Printed in France by Mourlot – Paris”, at the foot.
Available · from £390.00 · View this poster →
No. 2 · printed in his lifetime
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York
1975
The foot: No printer line in our photograph.
Available · from £170.00 · View this poster →
No. 3 · printed in his lifetime
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona
1976
The foot: Printed at La Polígrafa, Barcelona; the imprint is too small to read in our photograph.
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
No. 4 · printed in his lifetime
Galerie Maeght, Paris
1978
The foot: Printed by Arte Adrien Maeght; our photograph stops at the lettering.
Available · from £330.00 · View this poster →
No. 5 · printed in his lifetime
FIFA World Cup, España 82
1982
The foot: No printer line in our photograph.
Available · from £350.00 · View this poster →
No. 6 · printed in his lifetime
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona
1982
The foot: A tiny line at the foot, too small to read.
Available · from £100.00 · View this poster →
No. 7 · printed in his lifetime
Galerie Adrien Maeght, Paris
dated 1983 by the trade
The foot: No date and no printer line on the poster.
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
No. 8 · printed after 1983
Sala San Prudencio, Vitoria-Gasteiz
1986
The foot: The foot names the Fundació Joan Miró and the Museo de Bellas Artes de Álava.
Available · from £130.00 · View this poster →
No. 9 · printed after 1983
Musée Mandet, Riom
1990
The foot: “© Galerie Maeght – Imp. Arte Paris”, up the left margin.
Available · from £300.00 · View this poster →
No. 10 · printed after 1983
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona
1993
The foot: “20 Abril / 30 Agost 1993”: the centenary show.
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
No. 11 · printed after 1983
Louisiana, Humlebæk
the 1974 design, reprinted later
The foot: “© Successió Miró / VISDA”, a modern rights line.
Available · from £260.00 · View this poster →
No. 12 · printed after 1983
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence
2019
The foot: “© Successió Miró, Adagp Paris 2019”, under the picture.
Available · from £270.00 · View this poster →The star catalogue
The same twelve, as a list. The printer’s key lights these rows too.
- 1 Pasadena Art Museum, California 1969 “Printed in France by Mourlot – Paris”, at the foot
- 2 Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York 1975 No printer line in our photograph
- 3 Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona 1976 Printed at La Polígrafa, Barcelona; the imprint is too small to read in our photograph
- 4 Galerie Maeght, Paris 1978 Printed by Arte Adrien Maeght; our photograph stops at the lettering
- 5 FIFA World Cup, España 82 1982 No printer line in our photograph
- 6 Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona 1982 A tiny line at the foot, too small to read
- 7 Galerie Adrien Maeght, Paris dated 1983 by the trade No date and no printer line on the poster
- 8 Sala San Prudencio, Vitoria-Gasteiz 1986 The foot names the Fundació Joan Miró and the Museo de Bellas Artes de Álava
- 9 Musée Mandet, Riom 1990 “© Galerie Maeght – Imp. Arte Paris”, up the left margin
- 10 Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona 1993 “20 Abril / 30 Agost 1993”: the centenary show
- 11 Louisiana, Humlebæk the 1974 design, reprinted later “© Successió Miró / VISDA”, a modern rights line
- 12 Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence 2019 “© Successió Miró, Adagp Paris 2019”, under the picture
Map 3 · Before the letter
One image, two runs.
Several of these designs were printed twice from the same image. First a small run without the lettering, numbered and signed in pencil. Then the poster, with the text, for the walls of the city. Collectors call the first run avant la lettre: before the letter. The posters we hold are the lettered run.
Our copy · the lettered poster
- Text
- “Fundació Joan Miró” above; “Inauguració: 18, 19 i 20 de juny de 1976” below
- Signature
- “Miró” drawn in the image and printed with it, on every copy
- Printer
- La Polígrafa, Barcelona
- Size
- About 70 x 50 cm
Before the letter · the picture alone
- Text
- None: the image alone, printed before the lettering was added
- Signature
- Signed in pencil by Miró, and numbered
- Printer
- The same workshop, La Polígrafa
- Edition
- 99 copies on Guarro paper, the same 70 x 50 cm
- Pasadena · 1969 Mourlot printed 100 before the lettering, signed in pencil. Ours is the poster, with the museum’s name and the Mourlot line. See it up close.
- España 82 A run of 150, signed and numbered in pencil, was printed by Damià Caus in Barcelona and published by Maeght. Ours is the official poster, with the printed signature beside the 82. Maeght published fourteen other artists’ posters for the same World Cup; Miró’s stood for Spain as a whole.
- What we hold The lettered posters: 5 with Miró’s name printed in the picture, 2 with no signature at all. None of ours is signed in pencil.
Map 4 · Close reading · Pasadena Art Museum, 1969
Five readings, one printer.
Map 5 · Signatures · 25 December 1983
His name, in print.
Miró died in Palma on 25 December 1983. That date divides our archive: 7 posters printed in his lifetime, 5 after. On 5 of the lifetime posters his name is part of the picture, printed on every copy. 2 carry no signature: unsigned originals. The 5 later posters reproduce his work; one even reproduces a pencil signature.
Plate-signed
His signature is drawn into the image and printed with it, so every copy of the run carries it. On a lifetime poster it shows the image is his. It is not a hand signature.
On this poster: “Miró” in script below the long black stroke, printed in the image ink. Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
Show all 5 in the archive ↓
Unsigned original
Printed in Miró’s lifetime, for the show, with no signature on it. Still an original: made with the artist, not after him.
On this poster: no signature; the foot reads “Printed in France by Mourlot – Paris”. Available · from £390.00 · View this poster →
Show all 2 in the archive ↓
After Miró
Printed after 25 December 1983, to reproduce his work for a museum or foundation. A signature you see on one of these was printed, even when it looks like pencil.
On this poster: a pencil signature, photographed from a signed print and printed flat in 2019. Available · from £270.00 · View this poster →
Show all 5 in the archive ↓Hand-signed
Signed by Miró in pencil on that copy, usually in the margin. The signed copies were often the runs printed before the lettering. None in our archive.
Map 6 · The Printed Originals Miró archive
Every Miró poster we have held.
9 available now · 3 sold. Lifetime posters first. Sold posters show no price.
Map 7 · Collecting
Three lines tell the year.
Three lines date a Miró poster: the show’s dates, the printer’s line, and the rights line. Read them before the picture.
- Dates A show before 25 December 1983, printed for the show
- Printer Mourlot, Arte or La Polígrafa, when it is named
- Rights A modern rights line means a later printing
How do I tell a lifetime Miró poster from a later one?
Read the dates and the foot. A show that opened after 25 December 1983 settles it. A printer’s line, such as “Printed in France by Mourlot – Paris” on our Pasadena 1969, places a copy. A rights line can date a reprint: our Louisiana poster carries “© Successió Miró / VISDA” and measures 66 x 49 cm, where the 1974 printing is catalogued at 75 x 55 cm.
What does “avant la lettre” mean?
Before the letter. Some of Miró’s poster images were first printed without their text, in small numbered runs that he signed in pencil: 99 for the Fundació poster of 1976, 100 for Pasadena 1969, 150 for España 82. The lettered poster came from the same image. We hold the lettered posters.
Is the signature on my poster signed by hand?
Look at the surface. Pencil sits on top of the print and catches the light; a printed signature lies in the ink of the image and appears on every copy. A pencil signature can also be photographed and printed, as on the Fondation Maeght poster of 2019. If in doubt, ask us for a raking-light photograph.
Hand-signed, plate-signed, unsigned original, after: what do they mean?
Hand-signed means Miró signed that copy in pencil; we have none. Plate-signed means his name is printed as part of the image, on every copy. Unsigned original means a lifetime poster with no signature. After means a poster printed after his death, reproducing his work.
Can I see more detail before I buy?
Yes. Ask us for detailed photographs of any poster: the foot, the margins, the signature and the back.
Condition and framing
We grade condition in six steps and describe every mark (condition grading). Framing is optional, and all our framing is conservation framing (framing original posters).