Joan Miró, a pioneer for Spanish abstract artwork. You may not recognize the name, but one thing is for sure, you definitely know his work…
Joan Miró was a catalan artist best known for his colourful, cheerful and almost childlike paintings. He lived throughout the 20th century and shaped both Spain´s and Cataluña´s identity. His art is often compared to the likes of Pablo Picasso or Diego Velázquez, both abstract Spanish artists, however Miró´s art came across as dreamlike and poetic, very different from Picasso´s often sharp and analytical designs.
His work featured characteristic symbols such as stars, eyes, moons, birds and abstract figures. Miró lived through the Spanish Civil War, Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and Spain´s recession shortly after, and his art is a reflection of hope, symbolism and freedom, which acted as a subtle resistance against the authoritarian control they were living through. During Spain’s transition into democracy, Miró’s art also became more colourful and loud, which led him to create sculptures and ceramics, many of which still are in place for the public to enjoy.
Miró firmly believed art did not only belong in museums and galleries, and should be enjoyed by everyone in their everyday life. His art reshaped Cataluña’s cultural branding and can be spotted in many important logos and areas of Spain, let’s see how many you recognize:
Barcelona’s airport ‘El Prat’ mural
Miró created a huge ceramic mural at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport. For many tourists and visitors this remains the first work of modern art they probably see when entering Spain. (Credit image: Ajuntament del Prat)
Spain’s tourism logo = “Sol de Miró”
The famous España logo was designed by Miró in 1983 for Spanish tourism promotion and is still used to this day by ´Turespaña´ and remains the logo Spain is recognized by. (Credit image: Wikipedia)
CaixaBank / La Caixa logo
Another logo most have seen! The blue star logo of CaixaBank comes from Miró’s artwork, however was adapted from a tapestry he created with artist Josep Royo around 1980. Many people interpret this symbol in different ways, some believing it is just a star and others believing it looks like a human throwing some coins… What do you think? (Credit image: Wikimedia Commons)
Barcelona 1992 Olympic visual culture
Although Miró himself did not directly create the Olympic logo that year, the branding of the summer Olympics celebrated in Barcelona that year was heavily inspired and based on his art. With modernist influence, bold primary colours and playful figures, his style of art reached millions of people that year. (Credit image: Wikipedia)
If you didn’t know his name before this article, I am sure you recognize him now! Joan Miró shaped Spain´s and Cataluña´s identity and his artwork will continue to represent the country and its values.
We briefly chatted about this topic on our recent show:
