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Journalism of Courage
Best known for merging the abstract and the surreal in his whimsical imagery, Joan Miro created a distinct vocabulary that depicted an altered reality. The works of the Spanish artist are in India for the first time in an exhibition organised by the Fundació Joan Miro and the Fundación Abertis at the Spanish embassy.
In his trademark vibrant hues, the five works, on display in Delhi till July 24, include four paintings and a sculpture from his late period – Femme dans la nuit (Woman at Night), Femme (Woman), Personnages et oiseaux avec un chien (Characters and Birds with a Dog) and Personnages et oiseaux dans un paysage nocturne (Characters and Birds in a Nocturnal Landscape).
Speaking about the works, Jose Maria Ridao, the Ambassador of Spain to India, stated: “The exhibition will give visitors a unique opportunity to discover an essential aspect of the artist via his exceptional graphic work.”
A look at the changing oeuvre of the master and his numerous inspirations.
Early Life and Career
Born in 1893 in Barcelona to a family of craftsmen, his father was a goldsmith and watchmaker, and Miro showed an inclination towards art at an early age, drawing realistic works when he was only eight. In 1907, he started business school and worked as a clerk for two years, after which following a nervous breakdown he was able to convince his parents that a career in business was not for him. Having studied art at the School of Fine Arts at La Llotja previously, in 1912, he enrolled at Francesc Galí’s Escola d’Art, where he learnt about modern art movements and contemporary Catalan poets, both of which had a significant impact on his work. His teachers included Gali, who often encouraged students to draw and paint by touching objects instead of merely viewing. Associated with the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc, an artistic group that included renowned architect Antoni Gaudí among its members. During his initial years as an artist, Miro’s oeuvre was dominated by still-life, portraits, nudes, and landscapes, in a style described as ‘Catalan Fauvism’.
Following an unsuccessful debut solo in Barcelona in 1918, he headed to Paris for inspiration, moving between Montroig and the French capital in the following years.
Introduction to Surrealism
In Paris, Miro was introduced to the Dada artists and the avant-garde, and more modern influences began to seep into his works. In 1924, he signed the surrealist manifesto alongside Max Ernst, André Breton, Paul Eluard, André Masson, René Magritte, Giorgio di Chirico and Guillaume Apollinaire.
Poetic lyricism began to reflect in his works, leading to a series from 1924 to 1927, that he described as peinture-poésie, or ‘painting-poetry’.
In most works in the period, one colour was dominant, like Le Placeur du music-hall. From the 1930s onwards, he abandoned realism and his imagery was now dominated by geometrical shapes and symbols.
How politics and war influenced his work
During the Spanish Civil War, Miro’s works were influenced by the politics of the period. The ‘Savage Paintings’ (from 1936 to 1939) had devilish characters that appeared in works such as Éveil Du Géant. The most political piece he produced during the period was an18-foot-high mural commissioned for the Spanish Republic’s pavilion at the Paris International Exhibition of 1937. At the end of the exhibition in 1938, the mural was dismantled and has been missing since.
Between 1939 and 1940, he moved with his family to Normandy until the area was bombed by the Germans during the World War, forcing them to move to Spain. At the time, Miro was making smaller works, including the celebrated series Constellations.
Late Period and Death
Having famously stated “I want to assassinate painting”, Miro was reinventing himself in the quest of creating a new visual vocabulary for art. Despite the success that came with his paintings, he continued to explore new media, turning to ceramics, in collaboration with Joseph Llorens Artigas, and to sculpture in the mid-1940s. At the 1954 Venice Biennale, he received the grand prize for graphic work, and in 1958 he created a ceramic wall for the UNESCO building in Paris. In 1974, he was commissioned to create a tapestry for New York’s World Trade Center, but the work was lost during the 9/11 attacks. One of his last public works was ‘Woman and Bird’, a grand public sculpture for the city of Barcelona, completed a year before his death in 1983.
While his biomorphic figures have become one of the significant features of Surrealism, he also influenced artists such as Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. To encourage art learning and experimentation in future generations, he established the Joan Miro Foundation in 1975 in Barcelona.
