Biography for Joan Miró

Education

Miró trained at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts.

Employment

In 1919 Miró made his first visit to Paris where he met Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). His work before this time was influenced by the Fauves and Cubism but when he moved to Paris in 1920 fantasy replaced his naturalism. His first solo exhibition at the Salon in Paris was held in 1921 and in 1924 he joined the Surrealists, contributing to their first exhibition in 1925. Many of his works were by now fantastical, containing signs or emblems to represent objects and broad washes of colour to give context.
In 1928 Miró had a major exhibition in Paris followed by exhibitions in New York in 1930 and London in 1933. In 1926 and 1932 he designed ballets for Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929) and Leonide Massine (1895-1979). His work by this time used various techniques including painting, graphic and painting techniques combined, collage and assemblage and varied between prepared compositions and spontaneous images.
Between 1940 and 1948 Miró was in Spain where war caused his work to show the uncertainty and fear he was experiencing. He also produced the 'Constellations' series (1940-1) at this time, which were shown in New York in 1945. In 1951 and 1959 the Museum of Modern Art, New York held retrospectives of his work and in 1954 he was a prizewinner at the Venice Biennale. His work could also be seen on buildings in the form of murals such as at the Paris UNESCO building (1957-8) and at Harvard University (1959-60). He had gained an international reputation that influenced the work of a great many of his contemporaries.