JOAN MIRÓ

Assassinator of painting: The artist who upset the establishment Joan Miró (1893-1983) is one of the most significant Spanish painters of the twentieth century. The themes and treatments of his early work were shaped by the Catalan landscape and clearly show the influence of Fauvism and Cubism. During his travels, Miró encountered the intellectual avant-garde of his time; his friends included Francis Picabia, Tristan Tzara, André Masson, Jean Arp and Pablo Picasso.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e From the mid-1920s onward, Miró strove to leave direct objective references behind and developed the pictograms that typify his style. The pictures of this period, which include perhaps the most beautiful and significant of his whole oeuvre, dispense with spatiality and an unambiguous reference to objects. From then on, the surfaces were defined by numerals, writing, abstract emblems, and playful figures and creatures. In the postwar years be begin producing graphic works, ceramics, monumental murals, and sculptures. In these works, too, the Catalan artist sought the solid foundation of a figurative, symbolic art, featuring faces, stars, moons, rudimentary animal forms, and letters. Joan Miró developed in several stages his characteristic flowing calligraphic style and his world of forms resembling shorthand symbols in several stages. From Fauvism to Surrealism by way of his original childlike style, Miró sought to shake up the establishment and in doing so made a name for himself. About the Series: u003cbru003e Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features: u003culu003e u003cliu003ea detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importanceu003c/liu003e u003cliu003ea concise biographyu003c/liu003e u003cliu003eapproximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captionsu003c/liu003e u003c/ulu003e