Friday, 10 October 2025

Joan Miró - part 12

Joan Miró Ferra was born on April 20, 1893, in Barcelona. At the age of 14, he went to business school in Barcelona and also attended La Lonja, the academy of fine arts, the same city. Upon completing three years of art studies, he took a position as a clerk. After suffering a nervous breakdown, he abandoned business and resumed his art studies, attending Francesc Galí’s Escola d’Art in Barcelona from 1912 to 1915. In 1917, he met Francis Picabia and the following year, the dealer José Dalmau gave him his first solo show at his gallery in Barcelona.

n 1920, Miró made his first trip to Paris, where he met Pablo Picasso. From this time, Miró divided his time between Paris and Montroig, Spain. In Paris, he associated with the poets Max Jacob, Pierre Reverdy, and Tristan Tzara and participated in Dada activities. Dalmau organized Miró’s first solo show in Paris, at the Galerie La Licorne in 1921. His work was included in the Salon d’Automne of 1923. In 1924, Miró joined the Surrealist group. His solo show at the Galerie Pierre, Paris, in 1925 was a major Surrealist event; Miró was included in the first Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie Pierre that same year. He visited the Netherlands in 1928 and began a series of paintings inspired by Dutch masters. That year he also executed his first papiers collés and collages. In 1929, he started his experiments in lithography, and his first etchings date from 1933. During the early 1930s, he made Surrealist sculptures incorporating painted stones and found objects. In 1936, Miró left Spain because of the civil war; he returned in 1941.

Miró’s first major museum retrospective was held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1941. That year, Miró began working in ceramics with Josep Lloréns y Artigas and started to concentrate on prints; from 1954 to 1958, he worked almost exclusively in these two mediums. In 1958, Miró was given a Guggenheim International Award for his murals for the UNESCO building in Paris. The following year, he resumed painting, initiating a series of mural-sized canvases. During the 1960s, he began to work intensively in sculpture. Miró retrospective took place at the Grand Palais, Paris, in 1974. In 1978, the Musée National d’Art Moderne exhibited over 500 works in a major retrospective of his drawings. Miró died on December 25, 1983, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Biography from Guggenheim Museums


Note: All works © 2025 Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris


This is part 12 of a 13-part series on the works of Joan Miró: 

1973 Woman bird I
acrylic on canvas 376 x 95 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1973 Woman bird III
acrylic on canvas 261 x 65 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1973 Women, birds
acrylic on canvas 162 x 130 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1973 Woman, bird
oil on cardboard 64 x 80 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1973 Woman, birds
oil on cardboard 80 x 65 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1973 Woman, birds
acrylic, oil and wax crayon on tarpaulin 302 x 25.7 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1973 Woman with 3 hairs, birds and constellations
acrylic on canvas 194 x 372.7 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1973 Woman in the night
acrylic on canvas 195 x 130 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Classical ballet
oil on "pompier"-style canvas 58.5 x 108.5 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Bird
acrylic on sackcloth 8.5 x 12.5 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Bird
acrylic on canvas, nail, string, gloves and pin 260 x 185 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Figure, birds
acrylic on canvas 130 x 97 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Figure
oil on cardboard 32 x 33 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Figure in the night
acrylic & oil on canvas 73 x 92 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Figure
acrylic and oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Fireworks I
acrylic on canvas 292 x 195 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Fireworks II
acrylic on canvas 292 x 195 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Fireworks III
acrylic on canvas 292 x 195 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Hands flying off toward the Constellations
acrylic on canvas 260 x 681 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Head, bird
oil and acrylic on canvas 55.5 x 39.5 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Head
acrylic on canvas 73 x 60 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Head
acrylic on canvas 65 x 50 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Head
acrylic on canvas 61 x 38 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Head
acrylic & oil on canvas 73 x 54 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Hope of a Condemned Man triptych:

1974 Hope of a Condemned Man
oil on canvas 267 x 351 cm
Joan Miró Foundation, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Hope of a Condemned Man I

1974 Hope of a Condemned Man II

1974 Hope of a Condemned Man III

1974 The eye Attracts diamonds
umbrella, partially painted wood, wire, paper, and plastic and cloth flowers 182.2 x 120 x 62.9 excluding umbrella
MoMA New York

1974 Poem
oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Woman
acrylic and oil on sackcloth 29 x 22 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 Woman
acrylic and oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain

1974 The Grotesque Courtier:

An illustrated book with sixteen etching and aquatints, nine with drypoint (including wrapper front).


Wrapper front
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 44.2 x 32.4 cm

folios 4 & 5
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42 x 58.1 cm

folios 7 & 10
etching & aquatint 42.2 x 58.5 cm

folios 12 & 13
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42.7 x 59.1 cm

folios 15 & 18
etching & drypoint 42.1 x 58.2 cm

folios 20 & 21
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42.3 x 58.9 cm

folios 23 & 26
etching and aquatint 41.9 x 58.5 cm
 

folios 28 & 29
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42.5 x 59 cm

folios 31 & 34
etching & aquatint 42.3 x 58.5 cm

folios 36 & 37
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42,6 x 59 cm

folios 39 & 42
etching & aquatint 41.5 x 58.5 cm

folios 44 & 45
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42.5 x 59 cm

folios 47 & 50
etching & aquatint 42 x 58 cm

folios 52 & 53
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42.1 x 59 cm

folios 55 & 58
etching, aquatint, and drypoint 42.5 x 58.8 cm

folios 60 & 61
etching & aquatint 42.3 x 58.5 cm


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.