Joan Miró

pseudonym: -

birth data

date of birth: 1893

place of birth: Barcelona

death data

date of death: 1983

death: Palma de Mallorca

biography

The Spanish painter, graphic artist, sculptor and ceramicist Joan Miró was born on 20 April 1893 in Barcelona. With his fantasy-like pictorial motifs that include magical symbols such as the moon, stars and birds, Miró is now one of the most popular artists of the last century. From 1907 Miró attended business school and the Escola Llotja art academy in Barcelona. From 1912 until 1915 Miró visited Francesc Galís Escola dart in the same city where Miró came into contact with modern French art and the architecture of Antoni Gaudí. His first solo exhibition was held in 1918 at the Galerie Dalmau. One year later he was introduced to Picasso in Paris. In 1921 Miró rented a studio in Paris where he met Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller and André Breton; through Breton he came into contact with the Surrealists with whom he jointly exhibited from 1925 onwards. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War Miró lived exclusively in Paris before returning to Spain in 1940 when he began working with ceramics. His first retrospective took place in 1941 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, followed by numerous other exhibitions. He also received various awards. In 1954, for example, he was given the Grand International Prize for Graphic Work at the Venice Biennale in 1954. Graphic work and ceramics were to dominate his work over the next few years. In 1956 Miró moved to Cala Major on Mallorca where he died on 25 December 1983.