Joan Miró
Spanish, 1893 - 1983Graphisme Concrèt, 1952
Not on view
Pastel, ink and charcoal on paper
Dimensions27 9/16 × 39 1/2 in.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Keith Davis, 1969.59
Joan Miró helped pave the way for a new visual art movement after World War II called Surrealism, which closely followed the theories of early psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Seeking to create a new reality, Surrealist artists drew heavily on the subconscious—dreams, chance effects, the irrational, and fantasy. In an effort to make contact with the subconscious, they experimented with automatism, an approach in which the artist moves the pencil or brush without conscious direction.
Miró's characteristic biomorphic shapes float through Graphisme Concret, complete with fantastic creatures inhabiting the space. Though the shapes were created in a spontaneous manner, they are not entirely abstract. Miró's composition remains somewhat figurative; the creature-like forms look as though they stand upon a "ground."
