Spanish Artists

Spanish painter Joan Miró, was born in 1893 in Barcelona. As son of a local goldsmith and jewellery maker, he began studying art at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and at the Academia Gali. However, his parents preferred he become a buisiness man which was why in 1907 he enrolled in business classes. After working as an accountant for a time, a nervous breakdown led to his decisión to take his artists career seriously, which was where his true calling lay.

He began experimenting with several of the "in" styles of the time, namely Fauvism and Cubism. In 1918, he staged his first exhibition in the Dalmau Galleries in Barcelona.

In 1920, Miró made his first trip to Paris, where he was introduced into the Surrealist movement, which was a tendency he soon adopted in his own artistic style. When creating, Miró was inspired by fantasy, the irrational and the images in his memory. This is seen clearly in two of his important Works, Dutch Interior and Harlequin's Carnaval.

His color palette was limited to only a few bright colors, particularly red, yellow, blue, green and black. Other famous Works include two great ceramic murals, Wall of the Moon and Wall of the Sun, which he created for the UNESCO building in Paris in 1957-1959.

The legacy left behind by this Spanish artist is considered one of the most creative and important contributions to 20th Century art. In 1976 the Joan Miró Foundation Centre of Contemporary Art Study was officially opened in the city of Barcelona and three years later, the University of Barcelona named Miró Doctor Honoris Causa. Miró died in Mallorca on December 25, 1983.