Joan Miró is a Spanish painter, graphic artist and sculptor. Abstraction became his direction. Miro was close to surrealism. The painter's works resembled the drawings of a child. They contain figures that only remotely resembled real objects.
Joan Miró y Ferrat was an acknowledged master of alogism. Glory came to him at the age of 32. The painter's biography began in Barcelona.
The path to the vocation
The future painter was born on April 20, 1893 in the family of a silversmith, a watchmaker. The boy's giftedness was noticed by his school teacher. The pupil's drawing, made by eight-year-old Joan, has survived. The boy's creation is called "Pedicure".
A fourteen-year-old teenager was sent to study accounting courses. But he decided to attend evening classes at the fine arts school. The parents did not oppose this, but they did not approve either. After completing his education in courses in 1910, Miro began working as a clerk in a grocery store.
Two years later, the firm decision was made to pursue a career as a professional artist. In Barcelona, he entered the Francisco Gali Academy. There they met their future assistant, master ceramist Lawrence Artigas.
Joan became one of the best students of the educational institution. During his studies, in 1914 he created the first significant painting "The Farmer". In 1920 Miro went to Paris. He spent several years in the city. The fashionable painters of Paris had a noticeable influence on Joan's work.
The first exhibition of the aspiring artist was held in 1928. It showed paintings that were later attributed to the genre of Catalan Fauvism. She failed.
Finding yourself
Joan did not achieve much success during this time. A year later, the Courbet Group was founded. An ambitious talented youth challenged the traditional art of Spain. Joan's works from this time received new portions of poetic realism. This is especially noticeable in "Landscape of Montroig". The perspective deepened noticeably, bright colors appeared in the details, superimposed with a thick layer, all the little things were drawn very carefully.
Poetic realism ended with the painting "The Farm". In it, the master tried to convey the wealth of the world of his native Catalonia. For a long time, no one wanted to buy the work. Ernest Hemingway bought it only in installments.
In France, they met the poet André Breton, the author of the surrealist manifesto. The idea of symbols and the unconscious shocked the young artist. He changed his usual manner of writing and began to work in the genre of surrealism, giving his world the author's semi-fantastic features.
In 1925, a personal exhibition of Miro was held in Paris. This time, the success exceeded all expectations. The queue stood at the entrance, the paintings were sold out instantly, critics vying with each other praised the master. Miro's name immediately became known.
Family and painting
In 1932 he returned to Barcelona. The master did not find a place for himself in the surrealist society. The subject drawing has lost interest. Now the painter was interested in the music of color. He called the absence of recognizable figures a reflection of a spiritual state, a desire to get away from stereotypes. The approach was approved.
With great success, the master has exhibited in Paris, America, Berlin and London. His exhibition was also held in Barcelona. Non-objective painting turned out to be surprisingly expressive. The beginning of the Spanish Civil War found the artist preparing a personal exhibition in Paris.
By that time, Miro had already arranged a personal life. Pilar Juncos became his wife in 1929; a year later, a child, daughter Maria, was born in the family. Together with them, the master stayed in France. In the thirties, the works "Painting", "Composition", "The Reaper", "Still Life with an Old Shoe" were presented.
The forties were marked by the creation of a series of gouaches. When German troops entered France, the painter returned to Spain. He settled in Mallorca, the homeland of his wife. During this period, a cycle of paintings "Constellations" was created. His work "Constellation: Morning Star" was recognized as the highest achievement of the master.
Significant works
In 1947, the painter completed a giant wall panel for the Hilton hotel chain. In 1956, the maestro moved to Palma de Mallorca with his family. Together with Artigas with a large house with a workshop, he made the fence for the UNESCO complex. For him in 1959 he received the International Guggenheim Prize. The artist worked on a ceramic panel for the University of Harvard.
In the sixties, a fence was made for the Barcelona airport and the Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The painter's talent was realized in mosaics, scenography, ceramics, printed graphics and poetry. The master became famous as the most cheerful artist. However, the intonation of his work has changed over time. There is more black on the canvases.
After the massive performances of students in France, the painting "May 1968" was started. Work on the painting was completed only in 1973. 1974 was the time of execution of the tapestry for the lobby of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
In 1975, the sculpture “A pair of lovers playing with an almond flower” was created for the La Défense business district in Paris. Since 1975, the Joan Miró Foundation has been operating in the Catalog in the building of the National Museum of Art. It contains over 8000 works of the painter.
Since 1976, the master's mosaic has been located on the famous Ramblas. The piece is located near the entrance to the Liceu metro, not far from the Passatge del Crdit street, where the master was born. In 1979, a park was established in Barcelona, which became known as the Miro Park.
Its main attraction is the huge sculpture "Woman and Bird". This is the last work of the painter. The opening took place in 1983, shortly before the death of the master. This happened on December 25, 1983.
Nine years later, the maestro's house in Palma de Mallorca was converted into a museum.
