Bird in the Night 1967

Joan Miró made this lithograph, 'Bird in the Night,' using ink on paper. These are, of course, traditional art materials. But here, they're put to work in a deliberately artless manner. Look at the flat, almost stenciled planes of color, and the bold outlines. Miró used lithography – a printmaking technique that allows for a direct, almost childlike application of line and form. It's a populist medium, capable of being reproduced in multiples, without too much specialized training. The process has imbued the artwork with spontaneity, a quality that Miró and other Surrealist artists prized. Yet, it is important to remember that even apparent naivety is a kind of skill. Miró had to master the lithographic process to make it appear so effortless, so simple. In the end, it's a reminder that all art is made, not born. And the means by which it is made always inflects the final result. This print challenges our conventional understandings of art, labor, and value.