Joan Miró

Joan Miró (Barcelona, 1893-1983) is one of the maximum exponents of Surrealism. In 1920 he went to Paris and laid down the main aspects of his work: tendency to abstraction, disperse composition supported by geometry, lively colours, humour, sexual and star symbol nuances, and incorporation of words. Expatriated in Paris during the Spanish Civil War, he returned to Catalonia in 1940. In the 1930s, the international diffusion of his work began, with the New York Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art offering a large retrospective in 1940 and his award in 1954 of the Premio Internacional de Grabado from the Biennale di Venezia. At the close of the 70s, his graphic work was progressively taking on a greater role. Miró was also very active in the field of ceramics, tapestry, and sculpture, doing large ceramic murals for the UNESCO building and the Palacio de Congresos in Madrid. In 1975 the Joan Miró Foundation was inaugurated in Barcelona. In 1980 King Juan Carlos I bestowed on Miró the Gold Medal of Spanish Fine Arts.