Miro

3 May 2008 - 31 August 2008

Prints, Paintings and Sculptures from the Maeght Collection

1946... As the pain and devastation caused by World War II is slowly beginning to fade away, key figures who had a major impact on the development of intellectual history and art in today’s world, such as J. Paul Sartre, R. Char, A. Giacometti, M. Leiris, J. Prévert, T. Tzara, P. Bonnard, H. Matisse, G. Braque, F. Léger, M. Chagall, A. Calder, A. Malraux, B. Van Velde, F. A. Bazaine, E. Chillida, and Joan Miró, gather in Paris…

The art of the epoch develops immediately after modern art is denounced as irrational and degenerate by Hitler. During a time in which people are overtaken by surprise and joy, yet ready to embrace life and heal old wounds, Paris draws in artists like a powerful magnet. This attraction to the thriving city proves that art can only flourish in a free environment…

Miró illustrates Tzara’s book in 1947… Prévert describes Miró’s art through poetry… Inspired by his close friend Miró, France’s then Minister of Culture André Malraux, who is always remembered with much pride, carries the world of philosophy and literature to yet another level as he recounts at length the art of this brilliant Catalan master in one of his books.

Questioning life as well as art and offering unconventional perspectives, philosophical and artistic currents like Dadaism, Cubism, Surrealism, Automatism, and Existentialism develop in this period and give rise to emergence of a number of artists who identify themselves with the movements. Embracing hundreds of artists and intellectuals, the Maeght Family becomes their friend and patron. Among these, Miró always maintains a special place for the Family.