Lot Essay
Jacques Dupin has confirmed the authenticity of this drawing.
In September, 1941 Mir completed his celebrated series of Constellations, twenty-three gouaches in all, which resolve and transcend the antagonism and violence which characterize many of the works he painted during the previous decade. The anxiety and fear he had felt during the Spanish Civil War and at the onset of World War II gave way to a greater sense of joy, and signify the triumph of art over worldly cares and human strife.
The present work was painted only three months after the final Constellation, while the artist was still living in Palma Majorca. Here Mir moves away from the density of visual incident that characterizes the Constellations; nevertheless, he carries forth the essential elements of his personal mythology. The female figure personifies the earth; the star is emblematic of the larger cosmos, and the bird serves as an angel-like messenger between the two realms.
The present work and later ones of 1942 are "characterized by a freedom of invention and a marvelous effortlessness...In this new evolution of his art, which was to end in the creation of his definitive style, renewed contact with Spain after five years of absence--with Mallorca most especially--was doubtless crucial. (J. Dupin, Mir, New York, 1962, p. 369).
In September, 1941 Mir completed his celebrated series of Constellations, twenty-three gouaches in all, which resolve and transcend the antagonism and violence which characterize many of the works he painted during the previous decade. The anxiety and fear he had felt during the Spanish Civil War and at the onset of World War II gave way to a greater sense of joy, and signify the triumph of art over worldly cares and human strife.
The present work was painted only three months after the final Constellation, while the artist was still living in Palma Majorca. Here Mir moves away from the density of visual incident that characterizes the Constellations; nevertheless, he carries forth the essential elements of his personal mythology. The female figure personifies the earth; the star is emblematic of the larger cosmos, and the bird serves as an angel-like messenger between the two realms.
The present work and later ones of 1942 are "characterized by a freedom of invention and a marvelous effortlessness...In this new evolution of his art, which was to end in the creation of his definitive style, renewed contact with Spain after five years of absence--with Mallorca most especially--was doubtless crucial. (J. Dupin, Mir, New York, 1962, p. 369).