Joan Miro. Artist-poet

“I try to use colors as words that form poems.” Joan Miro

Joan Miro is abstractionism and surrealism in one bottle. Seasoned with lyrics and graphics. Compatriot Pablo Picasso и Salvador Dalli, he managed not to stay in their shadow. Create your own unique style.

The future artist was born in Barcelona in 1893. Joan showed interest in drawing from early childhood. But strict parents were determined to give their son a serious education.

At the age of 17, Joan, at the insistence of her father, gets a job as an assistant accountant.

The monotonous, devoid of creativity work had a detrimental effect on Joan's health. Against the background of nervous exhaustion, he falls ill with typhus.

It took Joan a whole year for treatment and recovery from the disease. Parents no longer dictate their opinion to their son. And he finally plunges headlong into art.

First works. Fauvism and Cubism

The young man is very fond of modernism. He was especially attracted to Fauvism and Cubism.

Fauvism is characterized by expression and “wild” colors. The brightest representative of Fauvism - Henri Matisse. Cubism is a simplified image of reality, when the picture is divided into geometric components. Here Miro was greatly influenced by Picasso.

Left: Henri Matisse. Goldfish. 1911 Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow. Right: Pablo Picasso. Violin. 1912 Ibid. art-museum.ru.

Miró devotes his first paintings to the beauties of Catalonia. On his landscapes are native fields, arable lands, villages. An incredible combination of Fauvism and Cubism.

In the "Village Prades" you can easily see both Matisse and Picasso. This is not yet the Miro we know. He is still in search of himself.

And the public did not particularly recognize him. His first exhibition in 1917 failed miserably. Apparently then conservative Spain was not ready for such art. The words of one critic in relation to Miro have come down to us: “If this is painting, then I Velazquez".

poetic realism

Miro decided to radically change his style. So much so that you are amazed. Because the artist began to work in the style of poetic realism.

He paints landscapes, made very carefully and in detail. But it's not photographic. There is no three-dimensionality and smooth transitions from light to shadow. On the contrary, the image is flat. And every detail seems to have a life of its own.

Miró's most famous painting in this style is The Farm.

Of course, such realism was not easy. Miró worked on the painting for 8 hours every day for 9 months. The work was bought by Ernest Hemingway for 5000 francs. The first success, material including.

His self-portrait at the beginning of the article is also written in the style of poetic realism. We see every wrinkle and every crease on the artist's shirt.

But the artist apparently felt a dead end. And he decided that in his homeland he had nowhere to grow further.

abstract surrealism

In 1921, Miró moved to Paris, where he met and closely converged with the surrealists. And Miro is changing his style for the third time. Of course, under the influence of surrealism.

He is increasingly moving away from detailing to the transfer of emotional and sensual impulses. Miro combines real and abstract forms. Circles, dots, cloud-like objects. As in the painting “Head of a Catalan peasant”.

“Head of a Catalan Peasant” is one of Miró's most characteristic paintings of that time. He himself supported rumors that he drew inspiration from his own hallucinations. Which happened to him in Spain against the backdrop of famine.

But that was hardly the case. We see clear lines forming an image. Everything is lined up. Somehow, such thoroughness does not at all fit with the thoughtless expression of one's own unconscious.

In the same years, the painting “Harlequin Carnival” was created.

Don't you think that it is very similar to The Farm? The same pile of details that can be considered for hours. Only these details are fantastic, in the spirit of surrealism.

Miro came to the same place, only adding a little fashionable surrealism. And the French public liked it. Finally came success. They talk about him, they cite him as an example, they look up to him.

In 1929, Joan Miro marries. He has a daughter. He fully supports his family with his work. This finally reconciles him with his parents. Who realized the viability of their son as an artist.

From 1936 to 1939 there was civil strife in Spain. The artist responds to these events with two works: the monumental “Reaper” (now lost) and “Still Life with an Old Shoe”.

Ordinary things are depicted in an unreal glow, as if the artist was able to capture them at the moment of death.

And during the Second World War, Miró created his famous Constellation series. There has already come a worldwide success. It is by these constellations that he is most recognizable. In them, the long-established “Farm” is also visible.

Continuing experiments

Joan Miro did not limit himself to abstract surrealism. He continued to experiment. Some of his work is even compared with Paul Klee, another prominent representative of modernism.

Left: Joan Miro. Dawn. 1968 Private collection. 2queens.ru. Right: Paul Klee. Three flowers. 1920 Paul Klee Center in Bern, Switzerland. Rothko-pollock.ru.

In fact, these works have little in common. Large color spots in style Gauguin. But everything else is different. Miro fantasizes. You need to try very hard to see the real dawn in his “Dawn”. But Klee is more specific. We can clearly see flowers.

At the end of the Second World War, Joan Miro realized his old dream of monumental art: he creates a wall panel in the restaurant of the Hilton Hotel.

Miro-sculptor

Currently, Miro's work can be seen around the world. In the form of bizarre sculptures. As if created by alien beings.

The most famous of them are "Woman and Bird" in Barcelona and "Miss Chicago" in the USA.

Left: "Woman and bird". 1983 Joan Miro Park in Barcelona. Ru.wikipedia.org. Right: Miss Chicago. 1981 Downtown Chicago Loop, USA. TripAdvisor.ru.

These are, of course, grandiose sculptures, each under 20 m. Miro also has smaller sculptures, 1,5 human heights. Like "Character" for example. His author's copies can also be seen around the world.

In 1975, the Joan Miro Foundation was opened, which currently houses 14 works by the master.

I think Miro was one of the few artists of all time who managed to realize all his ideas. Although he continued to work until the last day of his long life.

The artist died in 1983 at his home in Palma de Mallorca at the age of 90.

Joan Miro in Russia

Russian museums did not buy his works. Therefore, only one work “Composition”, donated in 1927 by the artist himself, is kept in Russia.

Many of his works are in private collections, which are sometimes available to the general public. But still, to study his work, it is better to go to Spain and France.

To sum up

– Joan Miro is one of the brightest representatives of modernism. Along with Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee.

- Miro's style has changed dramatically several times. In this he is second only to the multifaceted Picasso. It is enough to look at the same plot in different years. For example, motherhood.

Left: Motherhood. 1908 Marasel Museum, Spain. Right: Motherhood. 1924 National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. Rothko-pollock.ru.

- Joan Miro is more likely to be considered a surrealist. He has many works in which the title does not fit with the image. A favorite technique of the surrealists.

And the names themselves are absurd, but very poetic. “Smile of flaming wings”…

– Miro is one of the few artists who tasted success and fame during their lifetime. His legacy is enormous. His work is still often sold at auctions.

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Main illustration: Joan Miro. Self-portrait. 1919 Picasso Museum, Paris. autoritratti.wordpress.com.