In their youth both Joan Miró and Antoni Gaudí attended drawing classes at the Centre Artistic de Sant Lluc in Barcelona. Though the two never met in that setting, from that point onwards Miró always professed great admiration for Gaudí’s work. The artists shared a deep love of nature, which often formed a driving force in their respective creative practices.
Paying tribute to the architect in the mid-1970s, Miró created a group of prints entitled the Gaudí Series. Comprising 21 artworks, using both etching and aquatint with a variety of paper collage to create works in varying sizes, the prints feature the artist’s strong fantastical creatures. Like most admirers, Miró was particularly drawn to the structure and rhythm of Gaudí’s pallette, especially his use of mosaic. He translated the architect’s signature trencadís broken-tile technique into his own prints through a strong use of colour, defined use of black line, and underlay of varying torn edged papers.