“The works must be conceived with fire in the soul, but executed with clinical coolness” - Joan Miro

The globally acclaimed artist Joan Miró was a pioneer of Surrealism and master printmaker, sculptor, and illustrator. He was an expresser of the manifestation of the subconscious mind, an anti-conventional activist, and one of the most original artists of the 20th century. Aesthetically, his artwork is playful and engaging. His distinct style often features amorphous, amoebic shapes, with varying lines and a limited, primary color palette. Miró notably contributed to the development of artistic automatism, where the artist suppresses conscious control over the creation process, allowing their subconscious thoughts and ideas to shine through. Miró’s work also lets the viewer decide what their subconscious mind sees in each abstraction, often with no explanation of intention. He created visual poetry drawing on his own memories and fantasies. Miró’s desire to undo previously established painting techniques would greatly contribute to the beginning of Surrealism as an art movement. Considered one of the founding fathers of Surrealism along with Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, Miró’s difficult-to-describe style often ventured into genres like Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism. Miró’s works speak for themselves, turning painting into poetry, and capturing the admiration of viewers around the world.
Miró was born to a goldsmith and watchmaker in Barcelona, Spain, on April 20th, 1893. He began drawing classes before the age of eight, as he performed poorly in all other scholarly subjects, and would enroll at the fine art academy at La Llotja in Valencia in 1907 to the dismay of his father. He studied there for three years before joining the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc, a Catholic arts society from Barcelona. At this time, Miró had also attended a business school in Barcelona and had begun working as a clerk until suffering a nervous breakdown and abandoning his business studies. It wasn’t until 1912, while recovering from typhoid fever, when Miró officially decided he wanted to be a painter. The artist held his first show in 1918 at the Dalmau Gallery, where his work was heavily criticized and defaced. His resolve unfaltering, Miró travelled to Paris in 1920 to participate in the Cubist and Surrealist movements that were blossoming abroad. Miró’s works were exhibited at the Galerie La Licorne in 1921, followed by the Salon d’Automne of 1923. While in Paris, Miró would meet many other influential artists including Picasso and Calder. His time spent with the masters abroad would solidify his spot in the Surrealist group. Miró also befriend Surrealist artist Max Ernst, and together they would work on costume and set design for the Romeo and Juliet ballet performed in Paris in 1926. This endeavor sparked Miró’s interest in mediums outside of painting, such as collages and printmaking, inspiring the creation of his most well known collage titled Spanish Dancer (1928). Miró returned to Spain, marrying Pilar Juncosa in 1929, and a year later, they had a daughter named Maria Dolores. Miró’s works found their way into America by the 1930’s, featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1936.
The start of the Spanish Civil War eventually urged Miró to move his family to Paris, where he could continue his art and raise his child, but they returned to his home country by 1940.
Growing success and the ever-changing political climate would shape Miró’s style and subject matter for the remainder of his career. The German threats in Paris forced Miró to remain in Spain, and by 1941, he completed Constellations, a gouache series that revealed a shifting of focus to subjects of women, the moon, and stars, that would remain present for the rest of his career. The Museum of Modern Art in New York held Miró’s first major museum retrospective in 1941. By the late 1940’s, Miró would frequently visit Paris to study printing techniques at the Mourlot Studios and the Atelier Lacourière, a fine printmaking shop noted for working with other masters such as Picasso and Matisse. Miró’s friendship with printmaker Fernand Mourlot would result in the production of over one thousand lithographic editions. Following his printmaking era, Miró began focusing on ceramics and sculpture as well as public projects. One of his most famous projects, Wall of the Moon and Wall of the Sun, are a set of ceramic murals made during 1957-1958, and are located at the UNESCO building in Paris. By 1964, Miró completed a series of sculptures and ceramics for the garden of the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. In the 1970’s, Miró began working with contemporary artist Josep Royo, who taught him the craft of tapestry. Together, the pair produced several works, including a tapestry for the World Trade Center in New York City in 1974. This work of art would be among the most expensive to be destroyed during the September 11, 2001 attacks. From 1972 to 1978, Miró created his only glass mosaic mural, and one of his largest works in the United States, titled Personnages Oiseaux for Wichita State University in Kansas. One of his final major projects, a large, mixed media sculpture titled The Sun, the Moon, and One Star (later renamed Miró’s Chicago), was unveiled in downtown Chicago in 1981. Miró created until the end of his life; the artist died due to heart failure in his Palma home on December 25, 1983.
Miró left behind a collection of personal literature that documented a lifetime of battles with mental illness and depression. He describes his first experience with depression at the age of 18, writing, “I was demoralized and suffered from a serious depression. I fell really ill, and stayed three months in bed.” As an artist that relied on emotional and subconscious motivations, Miró found an outlet through creation. He discussed how painting helped him through episodes of depression by calming himself and lightening his thoughts. Miró’s mental state can be analyzed through many of his works, such as his painting Carnival of the Harlequin (1925) that reflects the chaos and pain inside the artist’s mind. Miró often depicted the image of a ladder, symbolizing escape, perhaps from the shackles of mental illness.
Miró’s incredible oeuvre has received significant recognition, and continues to influence the art world today. In 1954, he was awarded the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale for printmaking, and in 1958, he received the Guggenheim International Award for his mural works at the UNESCO building. Miró created the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona in 1972, to which he donated all of his artwork, including about 240 paintings, 175 sculptures, 9 textiles, 4 ceramics, and over 8,000 drawings. Four years prior to his death, Miró was named Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Barcelona. His career is highlighted by a resume of shows and exhibitions worldwide. Shows between Spain, Paris, and New York filled his early years, while major retrospectives around the world increased in his latter career and posthumously. Notable museums and galleries that have displayed the works of Miró include: the Tate Modern in London; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the National Art Center in Tokyo; the Denver Art Museum; and countless more. In 2018, the Grand Palais in Paris held the largest Miró retrospective to date, including over 150 works.