In 1982, the OJAC acquired a print by Joan Miró—yet another generous gift from Bill Bomar and just one more example of this collector’s keen eye. Until recently though, this work was listed as untitled and undated.

 In 1995, CBS Sunday Morning aired a story on the OJAC and Miro’s print was included in the segment. Shortly after, the museum received a letter from an individual in Pittsburgh, PA inquiring about the print, as he had purchased the same image in Venice, Italy in 1980. Since our work was undated and untitled, we had little information to offer him. Yet, as it turns out, it was he who offered us information by including a copy of the bill of sale. 

The Italian text seemed of little use 26 years ago. But with the help of the internet’s free translation services, much could be gleaned from this simple document. The work remains Untitled, but we now know it was an original print created for a limited-edition book titled L’issue dérobée (possibly Hidden Exit or The Stolen Escape) by the French poet and art critic Jacques Dupin. Dupin and Miró were also close friends. The book was published by Galerie Maeght in Paris in 1974. Originally identified as an etching, the work was actually created using drypoint and aquatint with embossing on paper. The full sheets, with deckle edges at left and right, were loose (as issued). 

As a footnote, our print has “H.C.” written in pencil in the lower left corner, which stands for hors commerce. Hors commerce means “out of trade” and is similar to an artist’s proof (often noted as “A.P.”). An H.C. is given as a gift to the artist for allowing the publisher to print their images. Twenty hors commerce copies were printed of Dupin’s book.

Finally, after cross-referencing this information with other sites and collections, I was able to find images of the same print with the same historical background to confirm the accuracy of my sleuthing skills. 

Case closed.

Amy Kelly, Registrar

Untitled, from book: L'Issue dérobée (The Stolen Escape) by Jacques Dupin (Paris: Maeght Éditeur, 1974), 1974. JOAN MIRÓ. Drypoint and aquatint with embossing on paper. 1982.023