The Art of Joan Miro (1893-1983)
Barcelona, Spain
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 Joan
Miró i Ferrà
(April 20, 1893 – December 25, 1983) was
a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramist born in Barcelona.
Earning international acclaim,
his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious
mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride.
In numerous interviews dating from the 1930s onwards, Miró expressed
contempt for conventional painting methods as a way of supporting bourgeoise
society, and famously declared an "assassination of painting" in favor
of upsetting the visual elements of established painting.
 Biography
Born to the families of a
goldsmith and watchmaker, the young Miró was drawn towards the arts
community that was gathering in Montparnasse and in 1920 moved to Paris,
France. There, under the influence of the poets and writers, he developed
his unique style: organic forms and flattened picture planes drawn with
a sharp line. Generally thought of as a Surrealist because of his interest
in automatism and the use of sexual symbols (for example, ovoids with wavy
lines emanating from them), Miró’s style was influenced in varying
degrees by Surrealism and Dada, yet he rejected membership to any artistic
movement in the interwar European years. André Breton, the founder
of Surrealism, described him as "the most Surrealist of us all." Miró
confessed to creating one of his most famous works, Harlequin's Carnival,
under similar circumstances:
"How did I think up my drawings
and my ideas for painting? Well I'd come home to my Paris studio in Rue
Blomet at night, I'd go to bed, and sometimes I hadn't any supper. I saw
things, and I jotted them down in a notebook. I saw shapes on the ceiling..."
Joan Miro was originally
part of the "Generation '27" a collective made up of Spanish poets, writers,
painters and film makers that included Luis Bunuel, Miguel Hernandez, Jose
Maria Hinojosa and Garcia Lorca. The latter three were murdered by Franco
during Spain's fascist reign. Bunuel and a few other artists were able
to flee for France and the US. Miro was among these exiles. It is also
important to note that Miro's surrealist origins evolved out of "repression"
much like all Spanish surrealist and majic realist work. Also, Joan Miro
was well aware of Haitian Voodoo art and Cuban Santeria religion through
his travels before going into exile. This led to his signature style of
art making.
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