Literature

Dupin, Jacques. Miró Engraver, Vol. II. (Catalogue Raisonné No. 444)

Printed by

Arte Adrien Maeght, Paris

Published by

Maeght Éditeur, Paris

Dimensions

Image: 58.5 × 92.5 cm

Sheet: 74.5 × 104.5 cm

Public Collections

Museum of Modern Art

Condition

A fine impression with fresh colours and strong plate tone. Signed in pencil by the artist. In very good condition.

Catalogue Note

Executed in 1967, Trace sur la Paroi V forms part of a celebrated suite of six monumental prints in which Joan Miró explored the expressive possibilities of etching, aquatint and carborundum. These works represent one of the artist's most technically ambitious printmaking projects and stand among the finest achievements of his mature graphic oeuvre.

The title, Tracing on the Wall, evokes the idea of ancient marks left upon stone, suggesting humanity's earliest acts of image-making. Miró transforms this concept into a highly personal visual language of floating forms, calligraphic gestures and vibrant colour. Rather than describing a recognisable scene, the composition invites the viewer into a poetic world in which symbols seem to emerge spontaneously across the surface, balancing chance with extraordinary compositional control.

A defining feature of the series is Miró's use of carborundum, an abrasive material applied directly to the printing plate to create rich textures and deep, velvety passages of colour. This innovative process allowed the artist to achieve effects more commonly associated with painting than traditional printmaking, producing impressions of remarkable depth, luminosity and tactile presence.

Published by Maeght and printed by Arte Adrien Maeght, Trace sur la Paroi V was issued in a small edition of only seventy-five impressions. Its impressive scale, technical sophistication and painterly intensity place it among the most sought-after graphic works of Miró's later career, embodying the freedom, invention and poetic imagination that define his mature style.