Provenance

Galerie Pierre

1924 - 1964

Explore selected works

Overlapping, geometric shapes painted in tones of tan, oatmeal, and coffee brown and outlined in black cluster along the center of this tall, vertical, abstract painting. Except for the outlines, the paint is put on in long, horizontal strokes to create patches of color. The unpainted canvas shows through in some areas, especially in the lower corners and up along the right edge. A few shapes could recall body parts, like curved shapes for breasts near the top and an angled line for an elbow. The artist signed the work with black paint at the lower center: “Picasso.”
Pablo Picasso, Nude Woman, 1910, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1972.46.1

Nude Woman

Pablo Picasso · 1910 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.46.1

Two thin, black, straight lines create a cross above a band of widely spaced, vertical, wavy lines, all against a golden yellow background in this abstract, vertical painting. The cross and the band of wavy lines at its base nearly fill this canvas. Each end of the horizontal line of the cross ends with a black disk. Three crimson-red lines emanate like rays from the sides of each disk. The top of the vertical line of the cross ends with a scarlet-red form that flares into a straight line across the bottom and curves up and over, to our left. That shape is outlined in red and partially filled in with the same color at the curving end. At the bottom of the cross, seven vertical wavy lines are spaced along a horizontal line, all in maroon red. A turquoise-blue star floats over the black disk to our right, and three curved lines in blue, yellow, and red arch in a short, stylized rainbow near the upper right of the painting. The background is mottled with tan and ochre yellow, and speckled with topaz-blue dots mostly in the upper left and the lower right corners. The artist signed and dated the work in tiny letters near the lower right: “Miró 1924.”
Joan Miró, Head of a Catalan Peasant, 1924, oil and crayon on canvas, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 1981.9.1

Head of a Catalan Peasant

Joan Miró · 1924 · oil and crayon on canvas ·  Accession ID  1981.9.1

At least two surreal, imaginary creatures are surrounded by rubbed and blended orbs of coral orange, dandelion yellow, cobalt blue, emerald green, black, gray, and pastel green and pink in this abstracted painting. The larger being is in the center of the canvas and nearly reaches the top edge. Its triangular, oblong head has a tiny face with two eyes, a nose, and a dash for a mouth at the top corner. A long, sinuous neck reaches halfway down the composition to join the oval-shaped body, which has two thick arms with small hands. A V-shaped form at the center of the body, like folded wings, and a rounded bottom are difficult to interpret. What may be legs are fragmented fields of flat cardinal red, black, yellow, and green. The second creature is about a third the height of the first. Tucked in the lower right corner of the canvas, this critter has a tiny bird-like head, a bulbous body, and long legs. A second bird with a short beak and a crest like a rooster appears to be superimposed upside down on the other bird, so the clawed feet point upward. A six-pointed star painted in black with two red triangles and one yellow triangle at its center is over the birds. A tall shape made of black circles like a tower of bubbles is to the left. The upper corners of the painting are rubbed with mostly gray and black, and patches of color create a loose band across the composition about a third of the way down the canvas. Some areas, like the two birds in the lower right, might be drawn directly onto the textured canvas. The artist signed the lower right corner, “Miró.”
Joan Miró, The Shooting Star, 1938, oil on canvas, Gift of Joseph H. Hazen, 1970.36.1

The Shooting Star

Joan Miró · 1938 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.36.1

Two angular, cream-white buildings flanking a central, stylized tree are surrounded by brown soil, small animals, and farmhouse objects like watering cans and buckets beneath a clear, azure-blue sky in this square landscape painting. We look straight onto the buildings and slightly down onto the earth in front of us. About a third of the way up the composition, the horizon is lined with trees and mountains in the deep distance. The long, spindly branches of the central tree nearly reach the top edge of the painting and abstracted, sickle-shaped leaves are silhouetted against the sky so no leaves overlap. The far edge of the whitewashed structure to our left is cropped. The façade is pierced by two small rectangular windows and an arched hatch at the top under a winch. The back end of a horse is visible through an open door at the bottom center. Horizontal bands in front of the building suggest furrows in plowed earth, and a single stalk of corn grows up into the scene, seeming close to us. A pen protected by netting stretches out in front of the second structure, to our right of center. That wood-frame building has a triangular peaked roof, and the left half is open, like a lean-to. A goat, rooster, birds, and several rabbits occupy the pen. Watering cans, buckets and pails, a hoe, newspaper, lizard, and snail are spaced around the buildings. A tiny stylized person, perhaps a baby, appears in the distance between the buildings near a well where a woman works. A covered wagon, a round mill, trees, and plants fill the rest of the space between the buildings. A disk-like moon hangs in the sky to the right of the tree. The artist signed and dated the lower left corner, "Miro. 1921-22."
Joan Miró, The Farm, 1921-1922, oil on canvas, Gift of Mary Hemingway, 1987.18.1

The Farm

Joan Miró · 1921-1922 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1987.18.1

Nicolas de Staël, Ballet, 1952, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.34

Ballet

Nicolas de Staël · 1952 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1983.1.34

The image consists of fluid shapes and curved lines, creating an abstract composition that suggests movement and flow. The figures resemble human forms in dynamic poses, resembling people running or dancing. In the foreground, a shape with curved lines and two pointed projections is noticeable. The background features swirling patterns and layered hues.
Jules Pascin, Enlèvement d'Europe (Rape of Europa), c. 1925, pen and black ink, and wash, with silver and gold paint on laid paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase through a gift from Mrs. J.L.M. Curry, 1977), 2015.19.2616

Enlèvement d'Europe (Rape of Europa)

Jules Pascin · c. 1925 · pen and black ink, and wash, with silver and gold paint on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.2616

Wifredo Lam, L'Esprit veillant (The Watchful Spirit), 1944, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund and Gift of Funds from Leonard A. Lauder, 2026.23.1

L'Esprit veillant (The Watchful Spirit)

Wifredo Lam · 1944 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2026.23.1