1893 to 1983

Miro’s Beginnings Born in Barcelona, Spain on April 20, His parents were a watchmaker and a goldsmith. He was drawing and doing art and taking art classes up to the age of 7. It was at this time his parents felt that a more decent profession, than art, would be best. So he started taking business classes to become a bookkeeper.

Schooling During the time he was studying bookkeeping he was also studying art. In 1918 he and a group of artist friends started the “Agrupació Courbet” group. These artist opposed traditional art value and began to develop their own style that took cues from the Fauvist and Cezanne. The new art had bright colors, bands of lines and patterns.

The Developing Art Next Miro moved into his “Poetic realism” phase. The greatest of these work was done at his parents farm called “The Farm” The progression from the Poetic realism to more abstraction is evident in his next two paintings “The Tilled Fields” and “The Hunter.” "evolution from observation and imitation of the real life to unconventional and symbolic realization of mental images. Realistic forms are forced out by distorted shapes – stretched, swollen, twisted; by abstract geometric shapes - cones, circles, triangles, and lines… Remembered dreams, especially those seen when he had to go to bed hungry, become a source of inspiration.”

Progressing Art In 1920 Miro became associated with a group of Surrealism artist. It is in the Surrealism movement that his abstract style came to fruition. By the end of the 1920’s his work was even more abstract marked by symbolic like shapes.

More Abstraction As the years passed Miro’s work became more and more abstract color and objects would take on a their own identity. During the late 40’s 50 and 60’s he created murals even some in the U.S. sculpture, Ceramic Object, and Collages. One such mural was done Cincinnati Terrace Hilton Hotel.(1947) In Miro created a massive Ceramic Mural for he Harvard Harkness Center.

Late Work From the 1950’s to the 1970’s his work became more isolated and simplistic. A series of paintings-- considered some of his more famous works are Blue II, Blue III and Larks Wing characterize his style. During this same time he also focused on Monumental works and sculptures. One of these sculptures is located in Chicago.

Interesting Quote Miro was living at the same time as many great artist. However he his dislike for Picasso/Cubism or any artist that used their art for propaganda is evident in this quote. “Miró's oft-quoted interest in the assassination of painting is derived from a dislike of bourgeois art of any kind, used as a way to promote propaganda and cultural identity among the wealthy. Specifically, Miró responded to Cubism in this way, which by the time of his quote had become an established art form in France. He is quoted as saying "I will break their guitar," referring to Picasso's paintings, with the intent to attack the popularity and appropriation of Picasso's art by politics. “

Miro’s Legacy Miro was married to artist Pilar Juncosa in They had one daughter, Dolores born in They remained married until his death. He always dreamt of having a large studio and being to make a decent living off his art. After his a trip to the Us after WWII that dream came true. His work had gained popularity and the value of his work increased. His work began showing in more and more galleries giving him more financial security. Miro died in 1983 on Dec. 25th from heart dieseas. He was bed ridden at the time. Miro was 90 years old. Miro left behind 2,000+ oil paintings, 500 sculptures, 400 ceramic objects, and at least 5,000 drawings and collages. Miro’s studio was turned in to a museum of his work in It’s located in Palma de Majorca, Spain.

More of Miro

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