Image: Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery (Gallery 184)
The Museum of Fine Arts Boston is presenting ‘Picasso, Miró, Dalí: Unbound,’ an exhibition examining how the artist’s book became a site of experimentation for Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and other collaborators. The exhibition is on view from August 1, 2026, through January 24, 2027, in the Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery, Gallery 184, at the Boston museum.
The exhibition focuses on the livres d’artiste, a form that emerged at the turn of the 20th century and transformed the book into an art form. The MFA describes these publications as “bold, experimental, extravagant, and unbound,” both in their physical presentation and in the creative approaches behind them. The format brought together images, words and typography in ways that could challenge conventional ideas about publishing and illustration.
Picasso, Miró and Dalí were among the prominent artists drawn to the form, but the exhibition also emphasizes the collaborative work required to produce these books. Authors, publishers, designers and printmakers contributed to their development, making the works collective ventures rather than solely authored objects. The MFA’s presentation considers how those partnerships shaped the relationship between visual art and text.
Among the works highlighted by the museum is Joan Miró’s ‘Le Lézard aux plumes d’or’ (‘The Lizard with Golden Feathers’), published by Louis Broder and printed by Mourlot Frères in Paris in 1971. The illustrated book contains 40 color lithographs, including its wrapper front and cover, and is bound in publisher’s vellum. The work is identified as a gift of Boris Fridman, with rights credited to Successió Miró, Artists Rights Society in New York and ADAGP in Paris.
The exhibition also includes examples of artists responding to existing texts and of artists developing words and images together with writers. The MFA cites Dalí’s illustrations for Sigmund Freud’s ‘Moses and Monotheism,’ made in 1974, as an example of an artist interpreting a foundational text. It also points to ‘Au Soleil du Plafond,’ a 1955 collaboration between Juan Gris and the French poet Pierre Reverdy, as an instance in which image and language were devised in concert from the outset.
The museum characterizes the books as rare and resistant to easy categorization, presenting them as products of artistic ambition and collaboration in 20th-century publishing. Related programming includes the course ‘Livres d’Artiste: Picasso, Miró, Dalí,’ scheduled across September 16 to October 7, 2026; a $5 Third Thursday event on October 15; and a virtual member lecture, ‘Picasso, Miró, Dalí,’ on December 9. Lead support for the exhibition comes from the Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Exhibition Fund, with additional support listed by the museum.
