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 4 of a 13-part series on the works of Joan Miró:
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| 1942 Woman and Birds in Front of the Sun pen and brush and black ink, watercolour and gouache, with wiping and scraping, and touches of pastel, on cream wove paper, laid down 110.3 x 79.3 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1942 People, Birds, and Stars black crayon, and charcoal with stumping, with touches of gouache, on ivory wove paper 64 x 49.2 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1943 Painting oil and pastel on canvas 40 x 30 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1944 Women, bird, stars India ink and watercolour on canvas 41 x 33 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1944-46 Solar Bird plaster 13.7 x 11.4 x 21.6 cm MoMA New York |
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| 1946-49 Solar Bird bronze 13.4 x 11 x 19.3 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona |
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| 1945 Woman dreaming of escape oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1946 Figure, Dog, Bird gouache & watercolour on paper 21 x 31.1 cm Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York |
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| 1946 Woman and Birds at Sunrise oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1946 The morning star oil on canvas 146 x 114 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1946 Message from a Friend oil on canvas 262 x 275.5 cm Tate, UK |
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| 1947 Poster lithograph 64.5 x 46.6 cm MoMA New York |
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| 1947 Frontispiece lithograph 24 x 20.3 cm (page) MoMA New York --------------------------------------- |
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| 1947 Configuration etching in black and orange on white wove paper 28 x 21.5 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1947 Configuration colour etching on white wove paper 28 x 21.5 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1947 Young Girl, Skipping Rope, Women, Birds etching from a portfolio of five etchings and two lithographs 30 x 22.7 cm (plate) MoMA New York |
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| 1947 Woman and Bird in Front of the Moon etching 11.3 x 14.8 cm (plate) MoMA New York |
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| 1947 Untitled published 1952-53 aquatint and etching 37.7 x 45.4 cm (plate) MoMA New York |
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| 1947 Untitled etching with ink additions 12.4 x 14.8 cm (plate) MoMA New York |
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| 1947 Untitled etching and aquatint 12.3 x 14.9 cm (plate) MoMA New York |
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| 1947 The Diamond Smiles at Twilight oil on canvas 97 x 130 cm Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain |
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| 1947-48 Untitled etching with pochoir, in black, yellow, green, red, and blue, on ivory wove paper 14.1 x 11.5 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1947-48 Untitled etching with pochoir, in black, blue, red, green, and yellow, on ivory wove paper 14.2 x 11.2 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1947-48 Untitled etching with pochoir, in black, blue, red, and yellow, on ivory wove paper 14.2 x 11.5 cm The Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| Front Cover woodcut and collgraph 333 x 26.8 cm |
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| Title pages woodcuts and collagraphs left: 32.4 x 25 cm right: 32.4 x 25 cm |
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| Woodcut 32 x 25.2 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph 32.1 x 24.8 cm |
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| Woodcut 32 x 25.2 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph 32.3 x 25.2 cm |
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| Chapter title woodcut and collagraphs 32 x 25 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph 32 x 25 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32.1 x 24.8 cm right: 32.1 x 25.2 cm |
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| Woodcut, collagraph and collage left: 32.1 x 25.2 cm right: 32 x 25 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32 x 25 cm right: 32.1 x 24.8 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32.1 x 24.8 cm right: 32.2 x 24.8 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32.2 x 24.8 cm right: 32.2 x 25 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32.2 x 25 cm right: 32 x 25 cm |
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| 15 Woodcut and collagraph left: 32 x 25 cm right: 32 x 25 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32 x 25 cm right: 32 x 24.9 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32 x 24.9 cm right: 32 x 25 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32 x 25 cm right: 32 x 24.8 cm |
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| Woodcut and collagraph left: 32 x 24.8 cm right: 31.9 x 25 cm |
