Joan Miró

A stroll down Barcelona’s Las Ramblas is the perfect way to discover the work of the artist Joan Miró without stepping inside an art gallery. The iconic landmark is just one of the many fascinating pieces created by the Catalan artist during a career which long career was of great importance in the European and American art scenes.

Joan Miró was born on April 20 1893 and began drawing at an early age. His father was a goldsmith and his ancestors had all worked as craftsmen, so Miró’s interest in art was probably not encouraged as anything more than a hobby. From 1907, he attended La Lonja Fine Arts School, while also receiving training in business studies. On completing his education, Miró took a position as a clerk but succumbed to a nervous breakdown as his creative side was stifled.

Miró left his position and again took up art, studying at Academy Gali where expressive work was encouraged and amongst other things, Miró taught himself to paint by touch alone. In 1918, he had his first solo exhibition, sponsored by gallery owner José Dalmau. After this, he decided to travel to Paris, where artists congregated and shared ideas during this creative period of the 20th Century.

During the 20s, Miró was not the only budding star to be drawn to the city of arts and romance. Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway were amongst those he met and socialised with. From the mid 1920s, Miró became involved with the Dadist movement and Surrealist groups and produced the dream like scenes he is best known for today.

Over the course of his career, Miró became a highly respected artist working with a variety of mediums including textiles and ceramics and later poetry. Much of his work is displayed at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona, a museum and gallery which also features the work of contemporary artists.

Miró enjoyed playing with traditional and new styles, bringing his natural warmth and humour into his work and intending to make his art appeal to the senses by taking a playful and sometimes childlike approach. His Las Ramblas mosaic seems to embody all this and more by bringing art into every day life and is definitely one of Barcelona’s “must see” locations.