JOAN MIRÓ

1893,

(1936-9)

October 13, 2016

1907.

1920, (1921-2),

(1924),

'automatic' techniques

that they advocated. Meanwhile, paintings such as The Birth of the World (1925),

the ambiguous forms and stains of pigment suggest a process of free association,

even though the compositions were actually worked out preliminary studies, Other

works are given a poetic quality by the presence of writing, which the relationship of

words to image is deliberately elastic.

In the 1930s 's work became particularly experimental, ranging from collage

and abstract sculpture to wild, often violent paintings. He also used art as a political

tool during the Spanish Civil War (1936-9). Like Picasso, 1937 he contributed to the

Spanish pavilion the Exposition internationale des arts et techniques dans la vie

moderne Paris. However, while Picasso's Guernica (1937) has become an icon of the

period, s The Reaper (1937) was lost at the end of the exhibition.

During World War II retired to the relative safety of Mallorca, where he was

left undisturbed by Franco's government. In series such as the Constellations of 1939-

41 he continued to develop the surreal vocabulary that he had begun years before.

The strange, lyrical imagery, expressed through clusters of black lines and coloured

forms, has an intensity that also appears in his graphic art and ceramics of this period.

restless experimentation continued into old age. He sculpted

enthusiastically, casting figures from a combination of mundane and natural objects,

while his painting often took on a dark tone. However, monumental canvases such as

Blue (1961) offered a striking alternative, dominated by sensuous fields of colour.

WHERE TO SEE MIRÓ’S WORK

DID YOU KNOW?

Book: Great Modern Artists, by: Andy Tuohy with Christopher Masters.