Miró

Miró's world of forms resembling shorthand symbols

Joan Miró (1893-1983) is one of the most significant Spanish painters of the twentieth century. His early work clearly shows the influence of Fauvism and Cubism. The Catalan landscape also shapes the themes and treatment of these initial works. In his travels, Miró encountered the intellectual avant-garde of his time. His friends included Francis Picabia, Tristan Tzara, André Masson, Jean Arp and Pablo Picasso.

From the mid-twenties onward, Miró strove to leave direct objective references behind and developed the pictograms that typify his style. The pictures of this period, which include perhaps the most beautiful and significant ones of his whole oeuvre, dispense with spatiality and an unambiguous reference to objects. From now on, the surfaces are defined by numerals, writing, abstract emblems, and playful figures and creatures.

Nineteen forty four saw the beginning of his extensive graphic oeuvre, ceramics, monumental mural works, and sculptures. In these works, too, the Catalan artist sought the solid foundation of a figurative, symbolic art with orientation as regards content: faces, stars, moons, rudimentary animal forms, letters. Joan Miró developed in several stages his characteristic flowing calligraphic style and his world of forms resembling shorthand symbols.

About the Series:
Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:

a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist
approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
a concise biography

Facts

Miró

Mink, Janis
Softcover, flaps, 18.5 x 23 cm (7.3 x 9.1 in.), 96 pages, $ 9.99

Events (2 items)

Exhibition
Joan Miró: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927–1937
November 03, 2008 - January 12, 2009
MoMA, 11 West 53 Street, New York, NY 10019-5497, (212) 708-9400, United States

See all (2 items)

Reviews (1 items)

This artist truely transformed the art scene in Spain and this is one of the finest books available on this creator. Strongly recommended to our own collectors of Miro´s works.
P´MioGallery picassomio.com/, Spain

See also (13 items)

	Magritte The great Belgian Surrealist (reissue in a new format)
	Miró TASCHEN's 25th anniversary - Special edition! Miró's colleague explores his extraordinary oeuvre
	Balthus "The real isn't what you think you see. One can be a realist of the unreal and a figurative painter of the invisible." -- Balthus
See all (13 items)