Joan Miro

Biography of Joan Miro

Joan Miro was born in Barcelona on April 20, 1893, into a profoundly artistic environment (his father was a goldsmith, his mother, the daughter of a cabinetmaker). Despite this, young Joan was pushed by his family towards studying commerce, from which he almost naturally transitioned into the Fine Arts...

His education, particularly alongside Modest Urgell, was interrupted in 1911 when he contracted typhoid fever. Sent to a family farm in Montroig del Camp, he then understood the importance of this Catalan land, which is at the heart of his history, culture, and trajectory. Throughout his life, he would return to Catalonia to recharge, every year.

The early 1920s were marked by his first exhibitions and artistic encounters. Between Fauvism, Van Gogh's colors, and Cezanne's landscape organization, Miro pursued his modernism. Refusing rules and conventional methods, he escaped upon his move to Paris, notably connecting with the surrealists. It was in Paris that he sold his first significant painting, "The Farm," to a buyer also on the verge of fame, Ernest Hemingway.

By 1924, he was a full member of André Breton's group. Simultaneously, the artist experienced a major identity crisis concerning his expression. He aimed to reshape reality, separate from representation to enter a simplification of line, form, in the realm of "decipherable paintings." The total spontaneity of his pictorial approach was both the ultimate achievement of surrealism and Miro's personal signature.

In 1925, "The Carnival of Harlequin" was presented at a group exhibition alongside De Chirico, Klee, Man Ray, Picasso, and Ernst. This work, the culmination of Miro's surrealist period, also marked the beginning of the artist's public recognition.

In 1929, Miro married Pilar Junosa, and while the young couple settled in an apartment large enough to accommodate the painter's studio, Miro introduced the young Salvador Dali to the surrealist group.

As the surrealist movement, entirely under Breton's sway, veered toward political engagement (overshadowing the artistic), Miro parted ways with the group and, after a trip to the United States, refocused his creation towards collage while discovering lithography art through Aimé Maeght. Upon his return to Paris, collage led him towards sculpture.

During the Spanish Civil War, while Picasso created Guernica, Miro stayed in Paris and reverted to a realistic style. They would exhibit together in 1937. After the German troops entered France, Miro returned to Spain (living between Montroig, Palma de Mallorca, and Barcelona) and developed his definitive style, which he established after more than a year of trial and error, readings, and meditations. Between Gaudi's influence, that of the siurells (small sculptures from Majorca), and his lithographic work full of rage and energy, Miro finally achieved the unique expression he sought.

The post-war period was marked by his work in ceramics with his adolescent friend Josep Llorens I Artigas (later with his son, Joan Gardy Artigas), by the continuation of his lithography and engraving research, and by numerous awards bestowed upon the Catalan painter, now considered one of the greatest living painters.

In the 1950s, a second stay in the United States brought him into contact with the young generation of American painters like Pollock or Motherwell, who acknowledged the Catalan's inspiration in their paintings. But more surprisingly, Miro, a recognized and celebrated painter, met these young painters and drew inspiration from their techniques (such as dripping) to enrich his own palette. Thus, Miro, nearing 70 years old, continued to seek to reinforce his expression.

In the 1960s, he collaborated with Aimé Maeght and helped the French patron realize his dream, a Foundation in Saint-Paul de Vence, paying tribute to modern art (Miro, Léger, Giacometti, as well as Chagall and Braque are represented). The end of his life was marked by the construction of monumental sculptures, which found their place all over the world (from Paris to Chicago, passing through Spain), often with the assistance of Artigas's son.

He passed away in Palma on Christmas Day 1983 and was buried in the Montjuic cemetery in Barcelona.

(c) Natacha PELLETIER for PASSION ESTAMPES