Joan Miró: Painting and Poetry

One of the 20th century’s most influential and recognisable artists, Joan Miró’s highly individual style placed him at the forefront of Surrealism and Dadaism.

Primarily known as a painter and sculptor, Miró was also a celebrated and dynamic printmaker. Within this practice the artist produced a remarkable and extensive output of book illustrations, often created for artists, writers and poets associated with the Surrealist movement. 

The first prints Miró ever made were illustrations for a book of poems, and literary sources would prove a constant inspiration for the artist. Miró never considered his involvement in these books to be strictly that of an illustrator. He worked from the free expression of what the text suggested to him and embraced the process of finding the image through experiment and accident.

This exhibition brings together lithographic prints created to illustrate the writings of the celebrated French surrealist poet Robert Desnos. The prints are an excellent example of the richness and variety of Miró’s print production as well as his famous experimentation with vivid colours and abstract shapes.