Biography of the artist Joan Miro

Joan Miro is one of the representatives of surrealism. Fundamentally avant-garde and modern, he demonstrates a very great creativity, in both his paintings and his sculptures.

The origins, the journey of Joan Miro

Joan Miro was born in Barcelona in 1893. His father is a jeweler and his mother the daughter of a cabinetmaker. Joan began to paint very young, at the age of eight. He first began studying business in 1907 but that turns out to be a failure. So he abandoned his studies to join the School of Fine Arts of La Llotja.

At seventeen, Joan Miro becomes a clerk in a store until 1911 when he contracted typhus. For his health, he was forced to move to a family farm. It was at that moment he realized his attachment to the Catalan land where he regularly returns throughout his life. When he recovered, he joined the Barcelona School of Art in order to perfect his talent and become a painter. He then attended The Académie du Cercle Saint-Luc until 1918. He discovers modern art during a visit to the Dalmau gallery in Barcelona.

Joan Miro and surrealism

En 1919, il se rend pour la première fois à Paris et rejoint, après avoir expérimenté le cubisme et le fauvisme, le mouvement surréaliste. Il se sent à l'aise avec l'humour décalé et le goût de l'imaginaire de ce courant. Parallèlement, Miro vit une crise identitaire. L'extérieur ne l'inspire plus et il se doit de remettre en question son art. Il parvient à résoudre ses problèmes artistiques grâce au surréalisme et en se fiant à sa spontanéité dans sa peinture et sa sculpture. L'inconscient et le monde de l'onirisme sont désormais les terreaux fertiles dans lesquels Miro puise afin de réaliser ses toiles.

En 1925, il présente lors d'une exposition Le carnaval d'Arlequin, œuvre purement surréaliste, et sera désormais mondialement connu. Lorsque le mouvement surréaliste prend trop de positions politiques, Miro se dégage du groupe et se consacre au collage, à la lithographie et à la sculpture.

Time of maturity

During the Spanish Civil War, Miró moves to Paris where he returns to a more realistic painting. When German troops arrive in France, Joan returns to Spain and finds his definitive style. He is henceforth recognized as a great Catalan artist.

At the end of his life, he devotes himself to monumental sculptures covered with ceramic. Joan Miro dies on Christmas Day in 1983.