Joan Miro

Closely connected to the original Surrealist movement, Joan Miro is today revered for his unique pictorial vocabulary and invigorating originality of style in both painting and printmaking.

Born in Spain in 1893 in a family of craftsmen, Miro was almost predetermined to become an artist. His initial artistic education in Barcelona preceded the big move to Paris the 26-year-old artist undertook in 1919. Life in Paris was difficult for artists at the time, but these hard times might have influenced the young painter’s imagination and pushed him towards invention of the visual language known to wide audiences today.

It was in Paris, where Joan Miro befriended Andre Breton, hence the association with the Surrealist group, even though the artist never officially joined the group. He had staged a solo exhibition in the early 1920s and had participated in group displays, but success seemed to have omitted Miro in his early years. Nevertheless, his career started to flourish during the 1930s, introducing a prolific period that lasted until his death.

Playful, filled with movement and color, linear, even childish are some of the first associations arisen from contemplation of Joan Miro’s art. Right from the beginning, he abandoned the traditions of painting and started creating works driven with pure energy and “fire of the soul”, all executed with great care and perfectionism. A pioneer of Automatism, Miro explored the depths of human mind through art, using color and form to describe imaginary shapes he invented. His compositions are delicate, elaborate and filled with various abstract and associative elements, featuring motifs such as eyes, insectoid creatures, birds, and the frail moon. Miro’s poetic style is highly recognizable and praised throughout the history of art and it had notable influence on Abstract Expressionism and the Color Field Painting in the post-war period.

Joan Miro died in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in 1983.