Joan Miró in action:
Celebrating Surrealism in Sans titre
Sans titre (Lot 1030) is an extraordinary work created during Joan Miró’s first trip to the United States in 1947, when the artist experienced considerable critical acclaim internationally. Sans titre was the most recently executed work by the artist to be included in Clement Greenburg's seminal monograph published in 1948. In the mid-1940s, Miró’s celebrity in the United States was reaching a fever pitch. The notable dealer Pierre Matisse had staged two major shows of the artist’s wart.mes Constellation series in New York to great acclaim in 1945, and over the next two years the art scene paid rapt attention to Miró’s creative output. Combining bright primary colors with calligraphic forms, the present work evokes the cosmic imagery found in these earlier Constellations, whilst reflecting the artist’s move towards a new style influenced by his t.mes spent in America and a newfound sense of optimism after the war years.
本拍品創作過程由知名製片人Thomas Bouchard掌鏡拍攝紀錄片之截圖。 Tang, Jestina
Encompassing many key poetic elements found in the artist’s Surrealist œuvre, the composition evidences a close relationship with a major public commission Miró completed earlier in the year for Cincinnati's Terrace Plaza Hotel (now housed in the Cincinnati Art Museum). Whilst working in New York, Miró became acquainted with the well-known filmmaker Thomas Bouchard, who filmed Miró painting the present work. What is so fascinating about this particular work, as opposed to the pictures that Miró completed in the privacy of his studio, is that his audience could also witness the genesis of this picture. The 8-minute documentary offers an extremely rare insight into Miró’s creative process and provides a wonderful visual accompaniment to the work.
《辛辛那提露台廣場酒店壁畫》 油畫畫布，1947年，259.1 x 935.4 cm。 現藏於辛辛那提美術館。
On a rich sky-blue background, Miró painted the colorful anthropomorphic forms that can also be seen in the colossal Cincinnati mural. As demonstrated in the documentary, the artist’s application of colour and form in the present canvas is delightfully spontaneous and his brushstrokes are replete with energy. This reflects the many influences of the spirited postwar American culture that Miró was immersed in during his stay. The work exhibits a process of improvisation that can also be found in the work of the American Abstract Expressionists.
本拍品創作過程由知名製片人Thomas Bouchard掌鏡拍攝紀錄片之截圖。 Tang, Jestina
In Sans titre, the lively way in which the amorphous forms are delineated stylistically resembles calligraphy and this visual link with Eastern aesthetics is further heightened by Miró’s deliberate simplification of the background. This treatment of the background echoes with the Eastern principle of leaving blank (“liubai”), whilst concurrently playing upon the theme of the night-sky. In later years, Miró became acquainted with Asian artists such as Zao Wou-Ki and Richard Lin and the present work portrays his enduring interest in Asian art. It also anticipates the stylistic shift that the artist’s work would undergo upon meeting these artists. In 1966, Miró traveled to Japan for an exhibition and later in an interview with scholar Margit Rowell in 1970 he expressed the impact that Japanese calligraphy had had on his working method in an interview:
“I was fascinated by the work of the Japanese calligraphers and it definitely influenced my own working methods. I work more and more in a state of trance, I would say almost always in a trance these days. And I consider my painting more and more gestural.”
In its masterful array of colour and form, the present composition is test.mes nt to Joan Miró’s unique artistic vision and opens an important dialogue between the Western artistic canon and the masterpieces of Asian art which are represented in this season’s auction.
胡安・米羅：
《無題》的超現實世界
1947年，早已蜚聲歐美藝壇的胡安·米羅首度前往美國，這幅《無題》（拍品編號1030）就是米羅在這次美國之行期間的創作，美國藝評家克萊門特·格林伯格在1948年為米羅編纂的作品專題目錄也馬上收錄了這幅傑作。1940年代中期，米羅在美國捲起一股旋風，著名藝術商皮耶·馬蒂斯1945年在紐約舉行了兩場展覽，展示米羅在戰時創作的「星座」系列。這場展覽廣獲好評，其後兩年間，藝術界對米羅的創作非常關注。本作結合鮮豔的三原色和充滿書法線條的形狀，讓人想起「星座」系列的宇宙圖像，亦展示了米羅藝術風格的轉變。此外，在美國的所見所聞和戰後各地社會復現的樂觀情緒，都啟發了米羅的創作新方向。
本作包涵米羅許多富有詩意的超現實主義關鍵元素；而米羅在同年較早前為辛辛那提露台廣場酒店創作的公共委約作品亦與本作頗有相通之處。在紐約期間，米羅結識了著名電影人托馬斯·布沙德，後者將米羅繪畫本作的過程拍攝下來。這段彌足珍貴的影片長約8分鐘，令世人難得一見米羅的創作過程。
《辛辛那提露台廣場酒店壁畫》 油畫畫布， 1947年， 259.1 x 935.4 cm。 現藏於辛辛那提美術館。
本作以天藍色為背景，有多個色彩豐富的擬人化圖案，與辛辛那提露台廣場酒店大型壁畫上的圖案遙遙呼應。在前述影片中，可見米羅在運色和構思圖案時完全由心而發，筆觸滿載能量，反映樂觀積極的戰後美國文化對其創作的莫大影響，而濃厚的即興意味在其他美國抽象表現主義藝術家的作品同樣可見。
本拍品創作過程由知名製片人Thomas Bouchard掌鏡拍攝紀錄片之截圖。 Tang, Jestina
畫中圖案的佈局猶如書法般氣韻生動，畫家有意簡化背景，進一步加深作品與東方美學的關聯。簡約的背景與中國文化傳統的留白概念互相呼應，另一方面亦令人想到藍色的夜空。米羅晚年結識了趙無極和林壽宇等亞洲藝術家，本作正正展示了米羅長久以來對亞洲藝術的興趣，同時預示了米羅在認識趙、林之後藝術風格的改變。1966 年，米羅前往日本參加展覽； 1970 年他接受學者瑪吉特·羅威爾訪問，談及日本書法對其創作風格的影響：
「日本書法令我著迷， 無疑影響了我的創作方式。我開始越來越頻密地、甚至大部份時間都是在入定的狀態之下創作，而作品展現的動勢也越來越強。」
本作的色彩和圖案處理無不展現大師風範，印證米羅獨特的藝術視野，同時啟動了本季拍賣呈獻的亞洲藝術傑作和西方藝術經典之間的對話。