Joan Miró Joan Miró (April 20, 1893 - December 25, 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramist born in Barcelona. His work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a fascination with the subconsious mind, an interest in recreating the child-like, and Catalan and Spanish pride. In numerous writing and interviews dating from the 1930s forward, Miró expressed contempt for conventional painting methods and his desire to abandon them (in his words "murder" and "assassinate" and or "rape" them) in favour of more contemporary means of expression.
As a young man, Miró was drawn towards the arts community that was gathering in Montparnasse and in 1920 moved to Paris. There, under the influence of Surrealist poets and writers, he developed his unique style: organic forms and flattened picture planes drawn with a sharp line. Generally thought of as a Surrealist because of his interest in automatism and the use of sexual symbols (for example, ovoids with wavy lines emanating from them), Miró’s style was influenced in varying degrees by Surrealism and Dada, yet he rejected membership to any artistic movement in the interwar European years. André Breton, the founder of Surrealism, described him as "the most Surrealist of us all." Breton was known for his affinity to automatism and promoted using starvation, lack of sleep, and drugs for inducing hallucinogenic states conducive to create art that reveals the subconscious. Miró confessed to creating one of his most famous works, Harlequin's Carnival, while hallucinating due to a lack of food.
Woman and Bird (Barcelona) Language Grammar Phonology and orthography Institut d'Estudis Catalans Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua History History of Catalonia · Counts of Barcelona Crown of Aragon · Treaty of the Pyrenees Catalan constitutions Nueva Planta decrees Geography Catalan Countries Catalonia · Valencia · Balearic Islands Northern Catalonia · Franja de Ponent Andorra · Alghero Government Generalitat de Catalunya Generalitat Valenciana Govern de les Illes Balears Consell General de les Valls (Andorra) Traditions Castells · Correfocs · Sardana · Caganer · Tió Myths and legends Arts Catalan literature · Antoni Gaudà · Modernisme La Renaixença · Noucentisme Salvador Dalà · Joan Miró view/edit this template By not becoming an official member of the Surrealists, Miró was free to experiment with any artistic style that he wished without compromising his position within the group and being accused of not being a “true†Surrealist. He pursued his own interests while the art world, both within and between groups which politicked and jockeyed for prominence. Miró’s artistic autonomy, in that he did not adhere to any one particular style, is reflected in his work and his willingness to work with several media.
In an interview with biographer Walter Erben, Miró expressed his dislike for art critics, saying, they "are more concerned with being philosophers than anything else. They form a preconceived opinion, then they look at the work of art. Painting merely serves as a cloak in which to wrap their emaciated philosophical systems."
In 1926, he collaborated with Max Ernst on designs for Sergei Diaghilev. With Miró's help, Ernst pioneered the technique of grattage, in which he troweled pigment onto his canvases.
Miró married Pilar Juncosa in Palma de Mallorca on October 12, 1929; their daughter Dolores was born July 17, 1931.
Shuzo Takiguchi published the first monograph on Miró in 1940.
Joan Miró won the 1954 Venice Biennale printmaking prize, and in 1980 he received the Gold Medal of Fine Arts from King
