Recently uploaded to the gallery is some of the work of Joan Miro (1893-1983) , known for his vivid biomorphic imagery and contributions to the surrealist movement.
Miro, drawn to the Paris art scene as a young man, began his artistic journey as a child, with an early interest in the organic world around him. Even as a child, the Spanish artist’s works were abstractions meant to bridge the gap between reality and the abstract. Later in life he would utilize a concept called automatism, in which the artist allows their subconscious to dictate the visual forms in their work.
A pioneer of twentieth-century art, he identified strongly with the surrealist movement, and collaborated with surrealist poets, lending a creative hand in illustration for artist books. This desire for collaboration perhaps lent itself to his later movement away from painting, and into printmaking. Miro became prolific in lithographs, etchings, and aquatints in the 1950s and 1960s.
He felt that printmaking could further his work to reach more people. The artist himself recognized the advantage of printmaking, stating:
“A painting is a unique example for a single collector. But if I pull seventy-five examples, I increase by seventy-five times the number of people who can own a work of mine. I increase the reach of my message seventy-five times.”