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The sun eater
(Mangeur de soleil)
1955

Medium
colour lithograph
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented by Mr James Mollison, 1996
© Joan Miro/VEGAP, Madrid. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
 

About this work

Joan Miró was first introduced to printmaking through collaborations with Surrealist poets and publishers, who invited him to illustrate their books. Of all the major Surrealist painters, printmaking played the most significant and enduring role in his practice. The sun eater was printed at the Paris workshop of Fernand Mourlot, a key figure who helped to initiate a colour lithography renaissance in the years following the Second World War. During this time, Paris re-established itself as the epicentre of European printmaking, and Mourlot’s print workshop attracted many leading artists of the time, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse.

Artwork Details

Medium
colour lithograph
Measurements
76.2 × 56.3 cm (image and sheet)
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Catalogue/s Raisonné
Maeght 218
Edition
ed. 9/50
Printing/Publishing
printed by Fernand Mourlot; published by Aimé Maeght
Inscription
inscribed in pencil l.l.: 9/50
inscribed in pencil l.r.: Miro / 1955
inscribed in pencil on reverse along u.r. edge: Mangeur de [s]oleil
Accession Number
1996.122
Departments
International Prints / International Prints and Drawings
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented by Mr James Mollison, 1996
© Joan Miro/VEGAP, Madrid. Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International