MIRO Joan (1893 - 1986) - "Grand Duc I". 1965.... Lot 27

MIRO Joan (1893 - 1986) - "Grand Duc I". 1965. Original etching and aquatint, printed in colors. Ref: Dupin, n°394. Fine proof on Arches wove paper, signed and dedicated "à Marguerite Benhoura, affectueusement 7/XI/68" in pencil by the artist. Printed and published by Maeght in Paris. Total edition of 75 copies (numbered and signed) and a few signed copies hors commerce. All margins. From 1959 to 1966, Miro worked mainly with Robert Dutrou in the Galerie Maeght studio in Levallois, then with the same man at the Arte printing works on rue Daguerre. [...] In Levallois, until 1966, the artist engraved some fifty prints, mostly in etching and aquatint. The hors-commerce copy presented here is dedicated to Marguerite Benhoura. Marguerite Benhoura (1903-1987), an associate of the Maeght gallery and a passionate art collector, was responsible for managing Miró's etchings. Miró described her as the "miraculous fairy of the archives" or as "the benevolent Angel of [his] etchings" (in his dedications). She developed a close relationship of friendship and esteem with the artist, who gave her several of his books as gifts between 1970 and 1979, often off-the-shelf copies that he kept for his close friends and family. In 1974, Marguerite Benhoura was one of the authors of the catalog "Miró: l'oeuvre graphique" for the exhibition at the Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris. 68 x 53 cm for the subject. 90 x 63.5 cm for the sheet. Condition A (brown stain on verso caused by old mounting. Very rare minor handling marks. Good condition).