I’ve been away for a while now. This year has been such a hurry that I could not find the time nor the energy to bring some love to this little space. So let’s get this year started – although slightly late.
A truly innovative artist
Joan Miró (1893-1983), whose birthday is celebrated today, it’s on the list of artists that I want to write about since the beginning of La Modernista. Not only because I find his work fascinating, but because he is such an inspiration as an artist that worked until the very end of his life and never conformed to any label.
How do you define Miró? Is he a Surrealist? A Fauvist? Dadaist?
I would say he is all of that and none of it.
Miró worked throughout his career in creating work less and less representational, yet he was never a fully abstract painter. He absorbed ideas from all the Parisian avant-garde movements and transformed them into something entirely of his own. The language he created with all the biomorphic forms, bold colours, stars and moons is rich and full of life.
At the same time, because Miró lived and worked during some of the horrors of the 20th century – WWII, the Spanish Civil War – some of his paintings and sculptures carry anguish and desperation, represented by deformed faces and bodies.
Spending time in his native Barcelona, Paris or Palma de Mallorca, he created paintings, sculptures, ceramics, tapestries and public mosaics.
To honour Joan Miró’s 129th birthday, I’ll leave you with two suggestions to know more about his life and wonderful body of work:
- Documentary
“Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape” by the National Gallery – Washington DC
- Fundació Joan Miró website
The foundation built by Joan Miró in Barcelona houses a big collection that you can explore online. Drawings, paintings, sculptures and more. And if you have a chance to visit the city, don’t miss it!
As always, share this article with someone you think will like as much as you!
And find me on Social or drop me a line at lamodernista.zine@gmail.com for comments!
❤
La Modernista 