Joan Miro Le Grand Ordinateur Etching - Aquatint and Carborundum Painting Mint

Artist: Joan Miro
Medium: Etching, Aquatint and Carborundum
Title:  Le Grand Ordinateur
Size: 39 3/8" x 25"
Framed: 50 3/8” x 36”
Year:  1969
Edition: Limited HC hors commerce impression aside from the edition of 75 includes original listing tag see photos

Condition: The piece is in perfect condition and has been framed with no expense spared. 

Includes: Print, framing & gallery certificate of authenticity.

“Le Grand Ordinateur” is another masterpiece from the prolific oeuvre of Joan Miro. Created in his mature stage in the late 1960s, this work gives out confidence in style and composition, and highlights the most recognizable traits of the artist’s visual language. Translated as “The Great Computer”, this etching is more conceptual than abstract, clearly referring to the advances in technology that were happening at the time.

 As a highly coveted collectable, this print has been made in a limited edition series of 75, and it has been performing excellently. When we look at the auction history, major auction houses have offered this work and achieved prices close to $30K and even over $40K, depending on the period and market situation.

 Miro’s printed body of work reached its highest point in late 1960s, after the artist was introduced to carborundum (silicon carbide engraving) technique in 1967. This innovative process is actually an advanced etching technique, which requires the use of an abrasive ground (carborundum) added to the etching plate to create a granulated or textured surface.

Joan Miro found that by combining this new technique with other etching methods, especially aquatint, he could create images to rival any painting, thereby elevating the art of printmaking above mere reproduction. Carborundum prints created from 1967 through 1969 set an unprecedented standard for quality and set the ground for a fruitful printmaking period in Joan Miro’s career.

Museum of Modern Art in New York recognized the progressive nature of this specific series of carborundum prints, dedicating an entire exhibition to them in 1970, titled Joan Miro: Fifty Recent Prints.