The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Woman with Blond Armpit Combing Her Hair by the Light of the Stars  (recto)  Figure (verso)

Woman with Blond Armpit Combing Her Hair by the Light of the Stars (recto) Figure (verso)

1940
(Spanish, 1893–1983)
Sheet: 37.9 x 45.8 cm (14 15/16 x 18 1/16 in.)
© Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Catalogue raisonné: Dupin and Lelong-Mainaud 632
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This drawing was published in book alongside the other works from Joan Miro's "Constellations" series, accompanied by poems written by André Breton.

Description

This drawing belongs to a group of 23 works made by Joan Miro between January 1940 and September 1941, which he called "Constellations." All were made in Normandy, where the artist had retreated from the Spanish civil war. Miro juxtaposed blurry layers of watercolor in earthy tones with neatly linear lines in black ink and shapes in white gouache to develop his own language of symbols that suggested, in his words, "the night, music, and the stars." The fifth in the series, this drawing is dominated by a vague figural form at center, who draws a comb through her hair while holding a mirror through which shines the moon and a star. The allover abstract composition was a major influence on later artists, following a 1945 exhibition in New York.
  • probably 1945-by 1950
    (Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, sold to Dwight Ripley, New York)
    by 1950-before 1966
    Dwight Ripley [1908-1973], New York
    by 1962-1966
    Mrs. Samuel S. White [1888-1966], Ardmore, PA
    1966
    (E. V. Thaw & Co., Inc. and Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, sold to Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1966-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Miró. Barcelona: Recinto del Antiguo Hospital de la Santa Cruz, 1968. Mentioned: p. 61, no. 42
    Joan Miró: Ceramics, 1944, Tempera Paintings, 1940 to 1941, Lithographs 1944. Exh. Cat. New York: Pierre Matisse Gallery, 1945. Mentioned: no. 5
    Breton, André. Constellations. New York: Pierre Matisse Gallery, 1959. Reproduced: plate 5
    "Painting of the Month." Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 15, 1965. Mentioned and reproduced
    "Catalogue." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 52, no. 9 (November 1965). Mentioned: p. 143, p. 157, no. 172; Reproduced: p. 142
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 199 archive.org
    Henning, Edward B. Fifty Years of Modern Art, 1916-1966. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 77
    Alsop, Joseph. "Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art." Art in America (May-June 1966): 21-44. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 30
    Henning, Edward B. "Joan Miró: Woman with Blond Armpit Combing Her Hair by the Light of the Stars." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 55 (1968): 71-77. Mentioned: pp. 71-77; Reproduced: pp. 74-75
    Miró. Saint-Paul-de-Vence: Fondation Maeght, 1968. Mentioned: no. 38
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 199 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Art of the Twentieth Century in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Dept. of Art History & Education, CMA, 1969. Mentioned: p. 3 archive.org
    Tapié, Michel. Joan Miró. Milan: Fratelli Fabbri, 1970. Mentioned: p. 20, no. 52; Reproduced: plate 52
    Sweeney, James Johnson. Joan Miró photoscop visual language. New York: Tudor Pub. Co, 1970. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 99
    Cooper, Barbara and Maureen Matheson. The World Museums Guide. London: Threshold Books, 1973. Mentioned: p. 78
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 248 archive.org
    Henning, Edward B. The Spirit of Surrealism. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1979. Mentioned: pp. 80-81, 175, fig. 34; Reproduced: fig. 34, p. 81; color plate XXI
    Henning, Edward B. "A Painting by Joan Miró." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 6 (September 1979): 234-240. Mentioned: pp. 239-40; Reproduced: p. 240
    Rose, Barbara. Miró in America. Exh. Cat. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1982. Mentioned: p. 4
    Rolnik, Marc. Miró's Constellations: The Facsimile Edition of 1959. Purchase, NY: Neuberger Muesum, State University of New York at Purchase, 1983. Mentioned: p. 3; Reproduced: p. 5
    Serra, Pere A. Miró and Mallorca. New York: Rizzoli, 1984. Mentioned: p. 288, no. 57; Reproduced: p. 57
    Malet, Rosa Maria. Joan Miró. New York: Rizzoli, 1984. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 57
    Malina, Judith. The Diaries of Judith Malina, 1947-1957. New York: Grove Press, 1984. Mentioned: p. 391
    Penrose, Roland. Miró. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1985. Mentioned: p. 185
    Rowell, Margit, ed. Joan Miró: Selected Writings and Interviews. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987. Mentioned: p. 170
    Henning, Edward B. Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1987. Mentioned: p. 79, no. 38; Reproduced: p. 80, plate VII; Mentioned and reproduced: P. 129, no. 38
    Bozal Fernández, Valeriano. Pintura y escultura españolas del siglo XX. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1992. Mentioned: p. 384; Reproduced: p. 385
    Dupin, Jacqueś. Miró. [Barcelona]: Polígrafa; New York: Abrams, 1993. Mentioned: p. 271; Reproduced: p. 251
    Lanchner, Carolyn. Joan Miró. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1993. Mentioned: p. 417, no. 160; Reproduced: p. 242
    Joan Miró Campo de Estrellas. Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, 1993. Mentioned: pp. 114, 153, no. 65; Reproduced: p. 114
    Dupin, Jacques and Ariane Lelong-Mainaud. Joan Miró: Catalogue Raisonné, Paintings. Paris: Daniel Lelong, Successio Miro, 1999- Mentioned and reproduced: p. 236, no. 632
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: P. 264-265, 298; Reproduced: P. 264-265, cat. no. 112
    Calder, Miró. Calder, Miró Constellations. New York: Rizzoli, 2017. Reproduced: p. 86-87
    Dupin, Jacques. Miró. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1962. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 541, no. 542
  • Miró: The Constellations. Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York, NY (organizer) (April 20-May 27, 2017).
    Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape. Tate Modern, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (April 14-September 11, 2011); National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (May 6-August 12, 2012).
    The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    Creativity in Art and Science, 1860-1960. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 16-November 8, 1987).
    Miró in America. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (organizer) (April 21-June 27, 1982).
    The Spirit of Surrealism. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 3-November 25, 1979).
    Miró at Recinto del Antiguo Hospital de la Santa Cruz. Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.
    Miró by Fondation Maeght. Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France.
    Exposition Miro. Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France (organizer) (July 23-September 30, 1968).
    Fifty Years of Modern Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 15-July 31, 1966).
    Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965).
    Joan Miró: Constellations. Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York and Paris (1959).
    Joan Miró: Ceramics 1944, Tempera Paintings 1940 to 1941, Lithographs 1944. Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York (1945).
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Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.2