Joan Miro

Work in the collection: Miró, Person on a blue background, lithograph, 1957, 32 x 25 cm.

* April 20, 1893 in Barcelona, Catalonia; † December 25, 1983 in Palma de Mallorca

At the beginning of his work, Miro dealt with the art styles that were popular at the time: Fauvism and Cubism.
In 1919 Miro traveled to Paris, where he met Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Hans Arp. Inspired by them, Miro begins to develop his characteristic dream-painting style. A few years later, Miro met André Breton, the Dadaist who would later devote himself to lyrical surrealism. Together with André Breton, André Masson and Max Ernst they form a surrealist artist group in Paris.

“There are three shapes that constantly haunt me: a red circle, the moon and a star” (Joan Miro). Pictures with enigmatic and sometimes ironic traits are characteristic of Joan Miro’s works. He uses animal figures (eg bird-man) and twisted, organic and geometric shapes. His pictures are also referred to as “cheerful naivety”.
Joan Miro called his paintings poetry. He also differed from the tenets of Surrealism in his way of working. He did not let his paintings arise spontaneously and free from accompanying considerations on the canvas, as many of the Surrealists made their own. On the contrary, Miro makes many preliminary studies of his paintings.

In public space, for example, his ceramic walls adorn the UNESCO building in Paris and the Wilhelm Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen am Rhein; Monumental sculptures are set up in squares in Barcelona and Chicago, among others.
1907 Art Academy in Barcelona

Exhibitions (selection)

1930 First exhibition in the USA in the Valentine Gallery New York
In 1933 , large-format paintings were created from collages
In 1934 his so-called “wild period” began with pastels on velor
1935-1938 several international exhibitions of surrealist works
In 1940 he moved back to Paris, but left France for Spain when German troops invaded
From 1940 to 1948 he lived in Spain and created many sculptures, graphics, ceramics and murals during this time.
In 1947 he visited the USA for the first time and had several solo exhibitions there, the most important being a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York
In 1952 his “free, powerful style” began
In 1954 his works were shown for the first time in Germany in an exhibition in Krefeld
In 1954 he received the Grand Prize for Graphics in Venice
In 1956 he moved to Mallorca, where he also set up a large studio
In 1958 he received the Guggenheim Award
In 1960 his new abstract style begins
In 1966 , monumental bronze statues by Miró were created for the first time
1968 honorary doctorate from Harvard University
In 1971 he founded the Fundació, the Miró Foundation, in Barcelona. This is still the most important Miró museum today
1979 honorary doctorate in Barcelona
In 1979 Miró designed church windows and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Barcelona