Project 3.3 Artists

Joan Miró,  

Miró's work is loved for its joyful celebration of life and colour. But it also contains ideas of freedom which, in Franco's Spain, were very dear to the Catalan painter. We look again at the man, and trace his personal journey through six great paintings.

Miro is considered one of the most influential artists of the Surrealist movement.

Joan Miró at home in his studio in Palma de Mallorca, c1977. Photograph: Christian Simonpietri/ Sygma/ Corbis

Joan Miró,  (born April 20, 1893, Barcelona, Spain—died December 25, 1983, Palma, Majorca), Catalan painter who combined abstract art with Surrealist fantasy. His mature style evolved from the tension between his fanciful, poetic impulse and his vision of the harshness of modern life. He worked extensively in lithography and produced numerous murals, tapestries, and sculptures for public spaces.

Miró is among the most iconic of modern artists, using a language of symbols that reflects his personal vision, sense of freedom, and energy.

The work of Joan Miró is immediately identifiable by his unique style, bright colours and signature shapes. At the forefront of Spanish modern art and internationally acclaimed, let's delve into the life of this artistic genius...

• Religion, culture, and nature were also a great source of inspiration for his work.
• Miro employed a wide range of colors, lines, and shapes to express his subconscious instead of relying on pictorial representation.
• Miro's style was highly unique and fantastic. 
• Colorful organic shapes that resemble geometric objects and living organisms overpower or dominate the flat picture plane. 

The Tilled Field
oil on canvas, 1923-24, 66x92.7cm 

The Village, this painting is the first example of Miró’s Surrealist vision. Its fanciful juxtaposition of human, animal, and vegetal forms and its array of schematized creatures constitute a realm visible only to the mind’s eye, and reveal the great range of Miró’s imagination. 

The complex iconography of The Tilled Field has myriad sources, and attests to Miró’s long-standing interest in his artistic heritage. The muted, contrasting tones of the painting recall the colors of Catalan Romanesque frescoes, while the overt flatness of the painting—space is suggested by three horizontal bands indicating sky, sea, and earth—and the decorative scattering of multicolored animals throughout were most likely inspired by medieval Spanish tapestries. 

Design Elements: 


Shape: Organic and non-organic shapes. more use lines,and Symbol.

Value: The value is bright and clear.

Color: Miro employed a wide range of colors.

Texture: Flat texture

Eye Movement: Overall picture,get more feeling.

Principles Analysis:
Unity: Yes.
Good use of color and pattern.

Balance. YES
Screen Average

Rhythm: Flat.
It feels like a landscape,Quiet, comfortable

The Farm
oil on canvas, 1921-22, 132x147cm 

It is a kind of inventory of the farmhouse owned by his family since 1911 in the town of Mont-roig del Camp. Miró himself regarded this work as a key in his career, describing it as "a summary of my entire life in the countryside" and "the summary of one period of my work, but also the point of departure for what was to follow.

Joan Miro Painting "La Leçon de Ski "

 Miro was an eccentric in the art world. He played a part in the early Surrealist movement but never wanted to fully involve himself with it. He also dabbled in DADA and other movements of that time period. He however preferred to experiment with his art and had a more abstract colorful style in his later career.  His surrealist works are very odd. So many are borderline abstract that its hard to tell the intended shapes and subject, but they're still cool to look at.

Reference :

http://joanmiro.com/style-of-joan-miro/

http://www.enforex.com/culture/art-joan-miro.html

http://rusart.ca/history/miro.html

http://www.joanmiro.net/ModernDecor.aspx

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/mar/20/joan-miro-life-ladder-escape-tate

https://elearning.psu.edu/demos/art010/joan-miro