Bethsabée 1972

Curator: The first impression I have is how playful and free it feels; Miró's language of shapes, colours and textures gives it a rather distinctive tone. Editor: Indeed. Let's delve into this mixed-media lithograph titled "Bethsabée" by Joan Miró, created in 1972. The use of printmaking is interesting given Miró's interest in the interplay between so-called fine arts and commercial production. How does it strike you? Curator: There’s a primitive energy, the rough lines, and shapes… but, I wonder, how deliberate are those? I want to understand more about his process – the physical making of it. The blending of media seems integral to how we should consider his oeuvre. Editor: I see this 'primitive energy' also. We can definitely contextualize its figures in relationship to a modern aesthetic marked by movements like Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, though the image gives voice to longstanding debates around womanhood in a particularly charged manner. Curator: But the materials themselves, lithography with mixed media - lithography is a labor-intensive process involving skilled artisans. How does Miró leverage this, play with this contrast in skilled work for a "spontaneous" abstract image? Editor: Absolutely, labor matters. These printing techniques enable widespread access to art, a very central part of his art-making politics and philosophies in making art available beyond elite circles, echoing movements focused on democratization and resisting traditional power structures through aesthetic production. Miró reclaims and empowers subjects, and brings visibility to people pushed to the margins. It challenges notions of power. Curator: So, looking at that striking red rectangle centered on the figure again, how intentional, controlled, versus, chance… splatters...I guess for me is trying to decipher Miró’s intent with the specific supplies at hand. Editor: Absolutely. We cannot talk about production alone; we must consider the wider societal, gendered, and geopolitical implications that make “Bethsabée” such a captivating, and at times unnerving, example of visual activism. Curator: Agreed. There’s such a strong, interesting relationship to his surrealist artistic predecessors in those artistic choices… It definitely merits a deeper appreciation. Editor: Agreed, the blending of historical and personal context along with that awareness enriches the experience immeasurably.