Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Joan Miró: Instinct & Imagination


The Denver Art Museum (DAM) presented Joan Miró: Instinct & Imagination, on view March 22, 2015 through June 28, 2015. The exhibition focused on the remarkable inventions of this Spanish artist during the last two decades of his life,starting in the 1960s, with a special emphasis on paintings, sculptures and drawings. During this time,Miróc ontinued the inventive, freely developed forms for which he is known, and began exploring newmaterialsincluding bronze. 

The exhibition had been organized by the Seattle Art Museum and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) in Madrid, featuring more than 50 artworks created between 1963 and1981, and entirely drawn from the MNCARS collection.

The traveling exhibition was previouslyon view at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University from Sept. 11, 2014–Feb. 22, 2015and at the Seattle Art Museum in early 2014.

Good review of the exhibition and Miro's works.


Exhibition Catalogue

An exhibition catalogue was published by the Seattle Art Museum in collaboration with the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and in association with Yale University Press, New Haven and London.




Miró: The Experience of Seeing includes color illustrations of nearly 50 paintings, drawings, and sculptures that show the breadth and contrast of this body of work—from bold, colorful canvases with expressive gestures to the most minimal calligraphic markings on white fields. His sculptures made of found objects are a revelation. Comparisons between paintings and sculptures highlight startling connections between shapes and symbols that Miró used in each medium. These mature works represent the culmination of the artist’s development of an innovative and personal visual language. Engaging texts, including a contribution by noted Spanish filmmaker Pere Portabella, explain Miró’s role as a political figure and his quest to speak about the most intangible subjects through the materiality of objects and the painted gesture. This important new examination of Miró’s later work allows for a richer, deeper understanding of this significant modern artist’s distinguished career.



Joan Miró, Woman, Bird,and Star (Homage to Pablo Picasso) (Femme, oiseau, étoile [Homenatge a Pablo Picasso]),Feb. 15, 1966/April 3-8, 1973. Oil paint on canvas; overall: 96-7/16 × 66-15/16 in., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, 2015.




Joan Miró, Woman Entranced by the Escape of Shooting Stars (Femme en transe par la fuite des étoiles filantes), 1969. Acrylic paint on canvas; overall: 76-3/4 × 51-3/16 in. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, 2015.



Joan Miró, Passage/Landscape (Paysage), 1974.Acrylic paint and chalk on canvas; overall: 96-1/16 × 67-1/2 in. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, 2015.



Joan Miró, Head, Bird (Tête, oiseau),1977. Lithographic ink and acrylic paint on Barker paper; overall:23 x 31 in., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, 2015.



Joan Miró, Bird Woman II (Femme oiseau II),1977. Oil paint on canvas; overall:77 x 51in., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, 2015.




Joan Miró, Spanish Woman Femme espagnole),1974. Oil paint on canvas; overall:57 x 45in., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, © Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris, 2015..orgImages available upon request.