The National Gallery Of Art Washington presents Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape, an exhibition of Joan Miro’s Work on view May 6–August 12, 2012.
Joan Miró, The Farm, 1921-1922 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mary Hemingway © 2012 Successió Miró/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris
Celebrated as one of the greatest modern artists, Joan Miró (1893–1983) developed a visual language that reflected his vision and energy in a variety of styles across many media.
Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape reveals the politically engaged side of Miró through some 120 paintings and works on paper that span his entire career. They reflect the artist’s passionate response to one of the most turbulent periods in European history that included two world wars, the Spanish Civil War, and the decades-long dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Through it all, Miró maintained a fierce devotion to his native Catalonia, a region in northern Spain.
The exhibition was organized by Tate Modern, London (April 14 through September 11, 2011), in collaboration with Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (October 14, 2011, through March 18, 2012), and in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
“Telling the story of Miró’s life and the times that he witnessed reveals a dark intensity of many of his works. Behind the engaging innocence of his style lie a profound concern for humanity and a sense of personal identity,” said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art, Washington. “The Gallery is honored to be the only U.S. venue for this landmark exhibition, and we are grateful to the many lenders, both public and private, who made the exhibition possible.”
Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape traces the arc of Miró’s career while drawing out his political and cultural commitments. The exhibition presents these themes through three principal periods: Miró’s early work, rooted in the Catalan countryside, and then transformed under the influence of the surrealists in the 1920s; his artistic response to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the fall of France, and life under fascist rule; and the artist’s late work just before the demise of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in 1975.
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