Joan Miro (April 20, 1893 – December 25, 1983) was a world-renowned Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramist who was born in the seaport city of Barcelona. In the 1920’s Miro began to take interest in the object as such, in the form of collages. This was a practice that was to lead to his making of surrealist sculptures. His tormented monsters appeared during this decade, which gave way to the consolidation of his plastic vocabulary. He also experimented with many other artistic forms, such as engraving, lithography, watercolor, pastels, and painting over copper. What is particularly highlighted from this period, are the two ceramic murals which he made for the UNESCO building in Paris (The Wall of the Moon and the Wall of the Sun, 1957-59).
It was at the end of the 1960s when his final period was marked and which lasted until his death. During this time, he concentrated more and more on monumental and public works. He was characterized by the body language and freshness with which he carried out his canvasses, as well as the special attention he paid to material and the stamp he received from informalism. He concentrated his interest on the symbol, not giving too much importance to the representing theme, but to the way the symbol emerged as the piece of work.
In 1976 the Joan Miro Foundation Centre of Contemporary Art Study was officially opened in the city of Barcelona and in 1979, four years before his death, he was named Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Barcelona.
Museum Collections: (several)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
- Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
- Barcelona Museum of Art
- Museo Del Prado, Madrid, Spain