After reading this, I'm thinking of flying in just to see the show. I was first exposed to the genius of Miro at a retrospective at the Pompidou in Paris in the mid 80's. As a painter myself, I can tell you that anyone who says those seemingly random drips and splotches are easy to get right, to look precisely as if you didn't have them completely planned out, hasn't tried to paint anything meaningful on canvas in their entire puff. Artists kill for those drips and that texture, for the incredible depths of these pieces. They are at once, abstract, surreal and minimalist. After all these years, they still seem incredibly modern.
Miro was also a darn good sculptor. There's a monumental (over twenty feet tall called "Woman Addressing The Public") piece in front of the Kimbell in Ft Worth that is so at home there it's as if it was part of Louis Khan's design from the start. Coincidentally, my address in Dallas is on a short street called Miro Place.
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What great review of a painter and his early works. Miro worked in the same time period as Hilma af Klint. Miro a male went on to fortune and glory. Hilma, a woman languished in obscurity. Miró’s work is amazing; Hilmas work is prophetic.
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Sorry, Miro and this article are perfect examples of the over inflated, bloviated, self importance of the modern art. Anything my 5th grader can draw better doesn't belong in a museum. It belongs on the fridge. Pass.
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@Hooper The Sad, The Closed, The Sorry. So many ways to express artistic blindness and lack of appreciate of what the artist did.
Miro had a long career, including the great transition from Impressionism to the Modern. Understanding his place historically might help in understanding his art. The world also transitioned dramatically during that period and arts, including painting, music, poetry and dance reflected those changes.
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Two preliminary thoughts:
(1) My artistic talent is nil. Absolute zero. I regret this but there it is.
(2) I do not love "extreme art." Paintings by Jackson Pollock (et al.) where the artist (as if in a sudden tantrum) took out his passion, his "demons", his whatever--
--on an innocent piece of canvas lying there on the floor. A mass of dribbles and splotches. No rhyme. No reason. No purpose. No message. No nothing.
If, after reading this, you think me an uncouth barbarian--well then, I'm sorry.
BUT--
--those paintings by Miro!
Oh, this is a modern master after my own heart! My own clumsy, inartistic heart.
Especially "The Hunter." How happy I would be if I OWNED this work. (Or a reasonable facsimile.)
Why is that?
On that gentle, beige background the artist (as if doling out his tiny treasures, one by one) has deftly DROPPED those lovely, evocative images. Mystery? Yes--but an exciting, unthreatening mystery. Everything alive, vibrating with hidden significance--oh, the eye moves here and there and everywhere.
Don't laugh. But I am reminded (just a bit) of those cut-outs Matisse did in his last years. Especially my favorite "Les Fauves de la Mer." Same thing! Wonderful images lovingly, skillfully introduced. We are drawn in, enchanted.
And those other Miro's! Oh yes--I liked them too.
I liked them all.
Maybe I'll try and take in the exhibit.
If I can. If it works out.
Thanks--for a wonderful article!
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He is one of my favorites. Always funny always makes me happy.
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The Miro Museum in Barcelona is also top rate and a joy to wander through.
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I second this. I spent a week in Barcelona - so many great artworks there (Picasso's early work, Gaudi, etc) and was blown away by Miro. A singular creative force!
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After reading your article, a trip to MOMA to see the Miro exhibit is at the top of my list when I visit New York in April. I plan to carry your article with me as I look at each piece, especially "The Birth of the World", where I will refer to your helpful road map describing the black kite, red balloon and figure with a white head stomping on the balloon's string. It would be really nice if every art exhibit had two versions of wall text; the museum's curated description and the Roberta Smith translation.
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@Genevieve Ferraro Great idea ! Curation is so important and so often so poorly done. Curation is not just hanging and index card next to the work of art. Curation can add so much any show.
As a denizen of galleries and museums I enjoy, no, revel!, in great curation. The best was at the National gallery a few years back on Greek bronze. A show I wouldn't normally attend but it was all that was available. Great great curation opened my eyes and my mind to something I would normally walk past without a thought.
@Louis J Thanks! When I have a problem with how an exhibit is curated, I always blame my lack of art history knowledge or background info on the artist. You have made me realize that bad curation happens!