Peinture [Painting]

In his paintings of the 1920s, Miró developed a personal language of signs and symbols which recur throughout his works. For example, the ‘pin-woman’ on the left is reminiscent of the central mother-figure in ‘Maternité’ (Maternity), which is also owned by the Gallery. The black dot with radiating lines may represent the sun, or be derived from an insect form, while the shape on the bottom right looks like a man’s head in profile. The shapes are set against a blue background, a colour Miró associated with dreams. Although the artist stated that many of his works made from 1925-7 were painted automatically, i.e. without prior preparation, the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona owns a pencil sketch which is very close to this painting.

Updated before 2020