Europe’s Best Museums on Joan Miro: The Son of Surrealism

By Dean Gregory, to Museum Spotlight Europe

The history of Spanish painting features an array of esteemed artists such as Picasso, Goya, Velazquez and Dali.  Yet, one of the, perhaps, underappreciated artists of the nation is the Spanish Catalonian painter Joan Miró.  A bevy of museums throughout Europe feature the exquisite works of the master artist.  Within Spain, the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona as well as Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca on the island of Mallorca, house significant collections of the artist’s works.  In the South of France, the Fondation Maeght offers the opportunity to see the Miró’s work with stained glass.  

Further afield, both the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the city where Miró spent significant time cultivating his craft, and the Tate Modern London offer visitors to Europe an exquisite opportunity to explore more broadly the work of the painter. Whether you are a dedicated enthusiast of Miró, or are unfamiliar with the artist’s works, you will find these museums to be remarkable experiences as you enter the mind and soul of one of Spain’s most cherished sons.  

Evolution of Miró 

Miró was prolific across a medley of media though out his long life and career.  He expressed himself through tapestry, murals, collage, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, paster and, of course, painting. Born in 1893, in Barcelona, Spain, the artist came from a family in the watchmaking trade. Early in his career, he absorbed Spanish and French literary and artistic cultural influences, spending time both in Paris and on his family’s farm in Catalonia in Mont-roig del Camp.  

In 1920, during a trip to the French capital, Miró met artists and intellectuals of the day, including Tristan Tzara, Max Jacob and Pablo Picasso. By 1925, the artists exhibited in what was exhibiting in the First Surrealist Exhibition at the Galerie Pierre with Picasso, Paul Klee, Max Ernst and Man Ray.  The painter remained in Paris during the breakout of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, though he returned to Spain, namely the island of Mallorca in 1942, during the onset of World War II.   

Interestingly, Miró’s first major retrospective occurred not in Europe, but the United States, specifically in 1941 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibition was organized by the painter’s art dealer, Pierre Matisse – the son of the eminent French painter Henri Matisse. Over the subsequent decades, the artist’s works were shown throughout the world to much critical acclaim up until his passing in 1983.  

Fundació Joan Miró 

The Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, in the artist’s native Catalonia, is dedicated principally to the work of the painter.  Among 217 paintings, 178 sculptures, 9 textiles, four ceramics and approximately 8,000 drawings as well as the entire collection of his print work.  Highlights of the collection include Morning Star, Woman and birds at sunrise and Tapestry of the Fundació.  Established in 1975, to honor the work of the artist, the space held Miró’s first major exhibition back in 1968.   

In addition to the works of Miró, pieces of other painters have been collected over time an as homage to the artist for visitors to explore, including Marcel Duchamp, Fernand Léger, and Robert Rauschenberg, among others.  Works from other artists have been donated generously from esteemed collections such as Marguerite and Aimé Maeght, Pierre Matisse, and the Kazumasa Katsuta Collection.  Located in central Barcelona, the museum is accessible through public transportation, taxi as well as the funicular service to Montjuic from an array of choice accommodation options.  

Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró a Mallorca 

On the Spanish Balearic Island of Mallorca, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró features a brilliant collection of the artist’s works. Boasting thousands of pieces, seminal works include Femme dans la rue, L’oiseau s’envole vers l’île déserte, and Figurine.  The institution itself is the legacy of Miró himself, as he and his wife Pilar Juncosa donated the studio spaces, the Son Boter and Sert Studio, with the artist’s work, documents and objects as well as contents from his library.   

Specifically, 157 paintings, 35 sculptures, over 1000 drawings, approximately 3700 objects and 1900 prints are housed in the institution. As such, guests are provided with a unique experience to absorb first-hand the very space Miró utilized and lived in for decades in cultivating his magnificent works. To complement the works of the artist, overtime the paintings and sculptures of other artists such as Marc Chagall, Antoni Tàpies and Peter Phillips, among others, have been added to the collection to create a dialogue with Miró.   

The island of Mallorca is reached easily from mainland Spain by flight or ferry.  Once on the island, the museum is easily accessible by car, taxi as well as a daily sightseeing tourist bus or public bus from the capital city of Palma.   

Maeght Foundation 

In the village of Saint-Paul de Vence in the South of France, the Fondation Maeght possesses a tremendous collection of Miró’s works. Most notably, of the 8 paintings, 70 drawings and 140 sculptures, the stained glass windows created for the museum are of particular note.  The artist became inspirited to explore stained glass as a medium through a meeting with Charles Marcq, an esteemed master glassmaker from Reims who assisted Marc Chagall in his stained glass works.  Only one other location outside of the Fondation Maeght offers guests the opportunity to experience the artists work with stained glass windows.   

Also the home of the late American writer James Baldwin, Saint-Paul de Vence is reachable via car, bus or taxi from nearby cities such as Nice and Cannes.  It should be noted further north in Paris that the Centre Georges Pompidou contains several significant works by the painter, including the remarkable Blue Series, La Poetesse and Le Chant Du Rossignol a Minuit et la Pluie Mantinale.  Likewise, across the Chunnel in London, the Tate Modern features 14 works of Miro, including Head of Catalan Peasant, Women and Bird in the Moonlight as well as The Tightrope Walker.