Joan Miro biography

La Melodie Acide

The Life of Joan Miro
By Mike McDougall

Joan Miró, the legendary Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramist, was born in Barcelona in 1893. Miró’s early life was nothing out of the ordinary, at age 14 he enrolled in the “Escuela Superior de Artes Industriales y Bellas Artes” where he studied for three years. After this he took on a job as a clerk In Barcelona but after suffering a nervous breakdown Miró decided that this wasn’t the career for him so he returned to his studies, this time at Francesc Gali’s “Escuela d’Art” where he studied for a further 3 years up until 1915. Miró’s first real breakthrough came when he had an opportunity to display his art in 1917. Local art dealer José Dalman had shown an interest in the young artist’s early work and used his studio for the exhibition.

From this point on Miró’s career as an artist really took off. He made his first visit to Paris in 1919 and moved there a year later to be part of the artistic community in Montparnasse. It was here as well that he met his fellow countryman Pablo Picasso, for the first time. After this Miró would spend the rest of his life dividing his time between Paris and Montroig back in his native Spain. His first solo show in Paris followed quickly in 1921. Paris was the place to be for a young artist at this time, it allowed Miró to meet many other great artists and in 1924 Miró joined Andre Breton’s Surrealist movement. This gave Miró the opportunity to work with fellow surreal artists Andre Masson and Max Ernst and in 1926 he helped Ernst to pioneer his “grattage” technique. Despite his ties with the movement, it has been said that he was always something of an outsider; indeed Breton later went on to say of Miró that he was “the most surrealist of us all”. As Miró developed his new style he claimed that he wanted to “assassinate” and “murder” traditional painting techniques.

By the early 1930’s Miró’s own style was developing and he was starting to get recognised as one of the leading artists of his time. His vibrant colours and almost amoebic shapes are reminiscent of a child’s drawings. On the home front, Miró had also been married to Pilar Juncosa in 1929 and this period also saw the arrival of their first daughter in 1931.

Miró was an artist revered for his adaptability and his use of different media. In 1929 he started his first experiments with lithography and his first etchings and sculptures also date from around this period. These different forms of artistic expression would go on to form a huge part of his work and, like his peer Picasso; it would ultimately make him more accessible as an artist.

The 1936, due to the outbreak of the civil war, Miró decided not the return to Spain; he moved his wife and daughter out to join him in Paris. He would not return to his homeland for nearly five years. Miró continued to experiment with new mediums and in 1944 he produced his first ceramics piece. By now his renown was worldwide and he made his first trip to America in 1947. He returned again frequently and had successful one-man shows at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York in 1951 and 1959.

Some of the highlights in Miró’s glittering career include receiving the 1954 Venice Biennial printmaking prize, in 1958 he was commissioned to do two murals for the UNESCO building in Paris which won the Guggenheim International Award for and in 1980 he received the Gold Medal of Fine Arts from his sovereign, King Juan-Carlos.

Undoubtedly Miró was one of the 20th century’s finest artists &endash; his legacy lives on today and a huge volume of his work can be seen at the Fundacio Joan Miró in Barcelona, a superb museum that is a fine showcase to this extremely talented man.

Mike McDougall has five years experience working as a travel writer and marketeer. He is currenlty working to provide additional content for Babylon-idiomas, a Spanish language school with an excellent presence in Spain and Latin America.

This work is covered by a creative commons licence

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Medium: This consists of a series of 14 original lithographs, on Vellin d'Arches paper, each bearing the printed signature of Miro and numbered in pencil. The group comes supplied in a white cloth portfolio case which is enclosed in a white paper printed
Image Size: Paper size 33 x 25 cms	Condition: excellent
Reference: (MAEGHT 1212 - 1225) ; Cramer 248.	Price: £2950

Published by: Ediciones Poligrapha, S A , Barcelona Printed by: La Poligrapha, S A., Barcelona Edition: The edition consisted of the following print run: 20 series of 14 lithographs numbered from 1 to 20, plus 7 series, numbered I to VII and 11 series HC from A to K, all printed on Japan Nacre paper and all signed by the artist himself. 81 lithographs from plate no 1 numbered from 21 to 101, plus 26 lithographs marked A to Z, also on Japan Nacre paper and also signed by the artist. The present edition consists of 1500 prints on Arches paper of the original 14 plates, numbered from 1/1500 to 1500/1500, and with the artists signature , in the stone, on each of the plates.

stylehive

Title: Oda a Joan Miro
Medium: Original lithograph, 1973, from the portfolio by the same name, signed in the zink plate, on Guarro paper
Image Size: 44 x 33 cms	Price: £300
Reference: Cramer175, page 430; Maeght 903 Condition: good Price: £300.00
Published by: Ediciones Poligrafa, S. A. Barcelona Printed by: La Poligrafa, S. A. Barcelona Note: This lithograph was part of a series made for the book "Oda a Joan Miro" with texts by Joan Brossa in 1973. There were 9 lithographs made for this book of which ours is an example. In addition to the pieces published for the book an extra edition of 1500 pieces was published on different (Guarro) paper with the printed stone signature of the artist Edition: 1500

Joan Miro

Title: Poligrapha 15 Years
Medium: Original lithograph, 1979, on Guarro paper, signed in the stone, printed to the edge of the sheet.
Image Size: 55 x 37.2 cms	Reference: Mourlot Volume VI , Number 1192. Cramer 247 Condition: good
Price: £250.00 Published by: Poligrapha, Barcelona, Spain Edition: 1500
Note: This was published to commemorate a partnership of 15 years between the artist and his publishers, Poligrapha of Barcelona, Spain. A speicl exhibition of the artists works was made at the time in London by Redfern Gallery and this lithograph, cut down in size and without the signature, was used at the front cover foir the catalogue. It contained 18 lithographs by various different artists.

Title: Ma de Proverbis (Hand Made proverbs)

Medium: Original lithograph, 1970, on Arches watermarked paper, signed in the stone, printed to the edge of the sheet.

Image Size: 55 x 37.2 cms

Reference: Mourlot Volume IV, Number 676. Cramer 139

Condition: good

Price: £450.00

Published by: Poligrapha, Barcelona, Spain

Edition: Unknown size

Note: There were a series of this lithograph in 5 different colour variations published for the book "Ma de `Proverbis" by the Japanese poet Shuzo Takiguchi. Most of these were signed and numbered as mentioned in the two works quoted above. I spoke to the publishers who advised me that , although they were not published in the catalogue raisonee, there was a further edition of unknown size , unsigned, printed to the edge from which our pieces come.

La Melodie Acide

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