Joan Miró

Joan Miro': Paintings of Surrealism

Joan Miro' i Ferrà was born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1893.

Despite his evident predisposition for art since his young age, he was forced to study economics.

Then, he started a career in the accounting field.

Thanks to a nervous breakdown due to much stress at workplace, he changed his mind: he quit his job to dedicate himself entirely to art.

In 1912 he began the Academy of Art in Barcelona, which was directed by Galì.

Joan Miro' got in touch with fauvism, an artistic movement raised in Framce.

Just after six years he had his first personal exposition.

In 1920 he moved to Paris, one of the liveliest cities for art and culture in that period.

Here he met Pablo Picasso and the artistic circle of Tristan Tzara.

During those years Mirò approaches the surrealism, whose style will influence him for all his life and career.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) the artist became very socially engaged on behalf of his country: he sustained the Republican cause and raised funds for his Nation and for the Spanish people.

He was strictly convinced about the social role of Art and therefore represented them on the canvases.

He will come back to his land only in 1940, settling down definitely between Maiorca and Montroig.

In 1954 he won the prize for graphics at the Venice Biennale and in 1958 The International Prize Guggenheim.

Above other prizes, there are also la Medala d'Or de la Generalitat de Catalunya in 1978, and the degree honoris causa at Barcelona University.

During his artistic career, Miró developed a personal and unforgettable style, with shapes between surrealism and abstractionism, always experimenting techniques such as collage, lithography, etching, sculptures and, in the last periods, ceramics.

The artist died the 25th December 1983, at the age of 90, in Palma de Mallorca.