Complementing Views of Míro's Art

Artists place themselves in their artwork. Remember your first preschool drawing. My mom framed my first piece of art. I drew a picture of my best friend, Jessica, and I. No, the picture was not realistic, but it represented something deeper within me, an interpretation of my friendship with Jessica. I drew the inspiration from my experiences with her, and intertwined them within my drawing. The famous artist, Joan Míro composed his work similarly. One art historian, Mendelson, believes Míro’s work evolved over time as he learned new techniques and experienced different art forms. On the other hand, Palermo believes that Míro’s art was an actual response of Míro’s to the artistic movement of Cubism. Though both art critics have concrete beliefs concerning Míro’s work, their ideas may actually work together, complementing one another, offering a deeper insight into Joan Míro’s artwork.

Mendelson suggests that Míro’s work evolved over time. By incorporating clippings from the media, Míro intertwines society throughout his artwork and because society changes and varies from place to place, his art did as well. Míro began his work in a simple manner. He simply took clipping from newspapers or magazines, pasting them to paper. Looking at these clippings, he would connect them with shapes or lines. However, in time, this began to transform into a more current art style. Instead of pictures linked together with lines, he used the clippings to inspire other elements within each art piece. Beginning with a clipping from a magazine or newspaper, these clippings “would lead him to draw a form, which in turn would compel him to paste another image, until the moment when the picture attained the most intense poetic expression without the discipline of the plastic arts losing its privilege.” His works were considered “violent and playful, erotic and innocent, calculated and full of chance.” After a visit to Italy, he then began incorporating various mediums within his artistic collages such as wire, photographs, felt, and metal. He pierced his canvas with items creating a 3-d effect; however, these changes in his art were not popular with his viewers or critics. The last step on the evolution of his art was noted as postcard art where a piece of artwork would revolve around a picture, originating from a postcard, pasted onto his canvas. In viewing Míro’s art, it can be easily seen that his work and style progressed over time as new possibilities came about for his art.

Palermo’s claims that Míro’s art is representative of Míro’s experience with the Cubism movement – that the “pictorial space becomes a surface in which the activity of a surrogate offers a metaphor for the painter's bodily entry into the surface of the painting.” Cubism, birthed by Picasso and Braque, is an art style that incorporates geometric shapes. Instead of having art mirror reality, Cubism instead interprets reality using by creating 3-D images on a 2-D canvas. It is much like it sounds; Cubism is merely presenting something by drawing it in cubes. Míro did in fact integrate Cubism into his art. It can be noted in many of his paintings. Palermo believes that each brush stoke, each line drawn is a representation of Míro’s personality.
Mendelson and Palermo do not present opposing claims concerning Míro’s artwork. Contrary, their claims may actually go hand in hand. As Míro experienced the Cubism movement, his artwork was likely to evolve with this movement. His original art did not seem to incorporate Cubism; however, at a later point it did. This in itself offers evidence to the evolution of his work. Palermo denotes his art as a personal response to Cubism, which is valid. His reaction towards Cubism was indeed to portray this new art form within his work.

As Mendelson suggested, Joan Míro exemplified the way in which art can progress over time. Not only did his work alter as he visited different countries and experienced different art movements, but he intertwined all he learned within his artwork. Palermo also suggested that his artwork portrayed his personal response to the Cubism movement. These two ideas work together, showing not only how his skill and ideas changed over time, but how he incorporated his personal change into his artwork.