San Francisco has a full year to fall in love with one of the most joyful collaborations in modern art. Miró: Proof Against All, on view at the Legion of Honor from July 25, 2026 through July 25, 2027, celebrates À toute épreuve (Proof Against All), the extraordinary artist’s book published in 1958 from the creative exchange between poet Paul Éluard and Surrealist artist Joan Miró.
To bring Éluard’s poems to life, Miró cut more than 230 woodblocks for the book’s 80 woodcut prints — a feat of patience, color and imagination that is considered the pinnacle of his work as a book illustrator. His playful abstract shapes dance alongside the poetry, turning every page into a small celebration of words and images working together.
This focused exhibition, presented by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, places the book within Miró’s broader career in artistic publishing. Tracing his intricate compositions across different printmaking processes, and the constellation of collaborators involved in such projects, it reveals the deeply collaborative nature of making an artist’s book.
A special highlight comes from the Logan Collection of Illustrated Books, which holds two copies of À toute épreuve — one unbound and one bound. The bound copy holds a place of honor: it was the very first artist’s book that David and Reva Logan purchased. It is a wonderful invitation to slow down, look closely, and enjoy poetry you can see.
Photo: JCruzTheTruth via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
