Biography of Joan Miro Artist - Research Paper Example

Joan Miro Miro was born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1893 (Anonymous 1). His father worked as a goldsmith and a watch repairer. Since babyhood, Joan Miro had passion for art. He was exposed to the art from a very young age as some of his drawings dates 1901 when he was 8 years old. He took drawing lessons while at the primary school. He performed poorly in all the other subjects except art. He joined the school of industrial and fine Arts in Barcelona in 1907 and graduated from the school in 1910 (Costo 1). Joan Miro decided to devote his whole life into painting in 1911 where he attended the school of art that was taught by Francesc Galí. He also studied at La Lonja School of Fine Art in Barcelona. In 1912, Miro resorted to becoming a visual artist. From this year, he studied art at a school known as Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc. His initial individual exposition was in 1918 at the Daluma Gallaries. During this instance, his work merged assorted types of art but it looked immature. In 1920, Joan toured Paris and met Picasso who was one of his much-loved painters. It was during this moment that Miro’s work became faultless. Miro held another solo trade fair in 1921 this time at the La Licorne Gallery. Ernest Hemmingway purchased his fauvist piece known as The Farm. He painted one of his eminent works known as Harlequin’s Carnival in 1925. This work was raging and confusing. It was made up of a group of dolls and imaginary items in the canvas. This bore a resemblance to a childish painting but this is what would become Miro’s mature work. Miro and his close friend Max Ernst, another perfect artist, designed costumes for the play Romeo and Juliet that was to be performed in 1926 by the Ballets Russes. Joan started to have an interest in other types of work like, lithographs, engraving, collages, and etchings. He is famous for a collage known as Spanish Dancer. Joan also maintained a close relationship with his friend Ferdnand Mourlot and this helped him in establishing over 1000 lithographic editions. His work had an influence from Dada and Surrealism. His eccentric style was mainly developed as an influence from poets and writers. In 1931, when the Spanish Civil war broke out, Miro moved to Paris where he continued his work. It was during this time that his work started showing surrealism. One such work was “Composition” made in 1931. He moved back to Spain in 1940. In the period of the late 50’s Miro concentrated on public art projects such as murals and plop art. He concentrated more on public works and monumental works. In his canvasses, he portrayed his character of freshness and body language. He also concentrated on the way in which the symbol could emerge as the piece of work. Between 1957 and 1958 he made the popular “Wall of the Sun and the Wall of the moon” that is located in the UNESCO building in Paris. The murals that were used in this work were ceramic which he fancied at this time. In 1972, Miro started the Joan Miro Foundation that was a centre for contemporary art study. Miro donated all his art to this centre, which were about nine textiles, four ceramics, one hundred and seventy five sculptures, two hundred and forty paintings and 8000 drawings. After opening his museum, Miro did a glass mosaic known as “Personnage Oiseaux” for Wichita State University in Kansas between the years 1972 to 1978. This was the only glass mural that he made and it marked one of his biggest accomplishments before his death. In 1979, he was offered an honorary PHD by the University of Barcelona and this marked a period of only four years before his death. Miro suffered from heart disease and passed on in 1983 (when he was aged 90 years). In his artist life, Miro used art like poems. He used the poems to pass out information to the society. He always balanced his compositions. Take for example his artwork “The Farm” the cracked walls were balanced out by the Chicken Coup on the other side of the picture. The ladder in the art-signified escape, which to Miro completed the picture. Miro’s work was always done in three stages. In the first stage was suggestion, which always forms the material whereas in the second stage is the conscious arrangement of this form and lastly was the compositional arrangement. For example, a crack on the wall would be a suggestion; then he would build of the cracks with some forms or shapes and finish off by painting off. Miro started of his work just as a small artist and nobody recognized his work but as time went by, he became more accomplished in his work. Miro will be remembered as one of surrealist artist in the history of art. He is a true testimony of talent that can assist individuals achieve. Despite the fact that he could not perform well in school in most subjects, his talent in art helped him excel in life. The next section discusses two of Joan Miro’s works, that is “Still Life with old shoe” which was a painting and the “Caress Bird” which was a sculpture made of bronze. Still Life with old shoe In January 24, 1937 Miro started working on his painting known as “Still life with old shoes” in Paris. He finished the painting on May 29, of the same year. This painting consists of an apple struck with a six tined fork, a gin bottle covered with a torn newspaper, a heel of bread and untied left shoe. The apple seems to be rotten because it is brown, the bread is dried up, and the shoe is worn out (Danto 1). In the painting, Miro sends a message. It should be noted that Miro was working on the painting while prevented by war from returning to his homeland. He demonstrates that traditional life is relaxed and harmonious but this life law has been destroyed by technologically armed war. War by high technology weapons have destroyed the peace that had existed. We note that everything in the Artist’s painting; the wine bottle, the fork, apple, bread and the shoe seemed to be neglected. They are isolated from their usual usage. Everything is in a mess, take for example the shoe that is worn out and mixed with foodstuffs. The shoe is worn out and is only one pair; which means it has lost its value. Life here seems to be stagnant. There seems to be a force that has caused this isolation. This force could be technological war. Here we see that initially there was bread, apple and even wine but as the war commenced, it caused disorientation in the people’s way of life. Everything has come to a standstill. The artist here is lamenting about technological war. Through this painting he is discouraging war because it hinders progress. The life has become still and the shoe has been mixed with foodstuffs. Just like the activists who work to promote peace through writings or rallies, Miro used art to promote peace. Miro’s message is still relevant in the world today because countries that have been involved in war have seen the disorientation of the life’s of its citizens. The Caress of a Bird This was Joan Miro’s sculpture that was made in 1967 at his studio in Palma de Mallorca. This collection is found in Miro’s foundation. This was a humorous sculpture in which Joan Miro used easy and identifiable objects to serve as the basis of his design. The sculpture is a little more than three metres tall and one metre wide; however, it is only 38 centimetres in depth. The sculpture was constructed of bronze, which was concealed by bright paint. The parts that were cast in bronze included outhouse seat and an ironing board used for body and legs with a pair of small score balls at the back that represents the woman’s buttocks. The head was composed of a donkey’s straw hat while the turtle shell stands for female genitals. The sculpture represented female sexuality. By choosing bronze, Joan Miro wanted to use a material that is real and recognizable. He wanted a material that most people associated with so that his message could reach most of the people easily (Yorkshire Sculpture Park 5). Through out his work, Joan Miro paintings and drawings portrayed a lot of life and humour which were the main themes of his drawings. From the above discussion it can be seen that Joan Miro was a real talented surrealist artists. He was so absorbed in art that all his life since babyhood revolved around art. He nurtured his talent until he became a well-accomplished artist. He did not just use art as a source of income but also to pass messages to the society. Take for instance the ‘Still life with an old shoe’ that he used his paintings to advocate for peace in the society. Works Cited Anonymous. “Joan Miro”. Mtnbrook, 2010. Web. 28th Mar. 2013 Costo, Pruebe. “Joan Miro” Totally History. 2012. Web. 28th Mar. 2013 Danto, Arthur. “Joan Miro” The Artchive. 2012. Web. 28th Mar. 2013 Yorkshire Sculpture Park. “Joan Miró: First UK exhibition of sculpture”. Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2011. Web. 28th Mar. 2013 Read More