Joan Miro
Joan Miro
Joan Miró was born to jeweller parents in Barcelona, and studied arts at the Barcelona School of fine arts much to the disappointment of his parents who felt he should study business. Miró did study some business alongside art and worked later as an accountant, which did not benefit him; he suffered mental anguish to the point of nervous breakdown and eventually his parents accepted his preferred career.
Miró's early work shows cubist influences typical of Spanish art in the 1920s. During this time Miró travelled to Paris, settling there in 1921. Here he met Picasso, among many other prominent artists. Miró became part of the surrealist group created by Andre Breton in 1924, and his friends included Max Ernst. While Miró's style took on some surrealist characteristics, he did not completely immerse himself in the surrealist circle, preferring instead to remain something of an outsider. He had developed his own style by 1930 and had acquired substantial recognition internationally. He also used other mediums including sculpture and ceramics.
From the late 1940s into the 1970s, Miró had a number of one-man exhibitions, notably at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He was also awarded a prize at the coveted Venice Biennale. In 1968 Miró completed a commission for ceramic murals at the UNESCO buildings in Paris. He did struggle financially for a time, and managed to alter this position after the Second World War when he visited the United States and his popularity increased, causing the market value of his work to rise.
Aside from his popular paintings Miró was also a print maker and produced etchings and lithographs. This enlarged his target audience and made his work more accessible.
Miró was unlike other artists in that there was little of the bohemian in him. He was known to be dependable, hard working and methodical, unusual attributes for a surrealist. His abstract, lively works contradicted his disposition and have contributed to his immense popularity. His works have been exhibited worldwide, and are currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and at the Tate Modern.