ST. LOUIS, June 1, 2022—The installation “Joan Miró” on view now at the Saint Louis Art Museum includes two major works by the Spanish artist, “48” and “Painting.”
The paintings are among 22 works included in the promised gift of modern and contemporary art from Emily Rauh Pulitzer. The gift, which was announced in 2021, is among the most significant in the museum’s 142-year history, transforming a collection that has been elevated over time by more than 140 works of art from the Pulitzer family.
The free, one-gallery installation places “48” and “Painting” within the context of other related works by Miró in the museum’s collection.
In Miró’s 1927 painting “48”, the number 48 hovers in an expansive, empty space, counterbalanced by a white cloud and spidery form. In the mid-1920s, Miró became fascinated by this number, which was the address of the house opposite his Parisian studio. The strange juxtaposition of motifs in this work is characteristic of the 1920s Surrealist imagery of Miró when he was at the center of the Parisian Surrealist movement.
The later picture, “Painting,” dating from 1953, is a large-scale, magical work which evokes the sun, moon, planets and constellations, as well as floating bird-like and humanoid figures.
Works from the museum’s collection include “Standing Nude,” a painting from 1918 that represents an early moment in Miró’s career when he was exploring the influence of Cubism while, at the same time, treating organic subject-matter that anticipate his later work. A selection of prints and drawings dating from the 1940s to the 1960s provides context for Miró’s exploration of his own very unique formal language. “Lakeside,” a watercolor drawing from 1942, and “Sad Traveler,” a color lithograph from 1955, represent a similar natural iconography of constellations and glowing red sun to that in “Painting.”
“Joan Miró” is on view through Aug. 21 in the Nancy and Kenneth Kranzberg Gallery 211. The installation is curated by Simon Kelly, curator of modern and contemporary art.
CONTACT: Matthew Hathaway, 314.655.5493, matthew.hathaway@slam.org
Press images for 'Joan Miro'
Click on any the images in this gallery to download.
