Curated by:
Rémi Labrusse, art historian
The Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona and the musée Matisse in Nice are co-organising an exhibition examining the relationships between Henri Matisse and Joan Miró’s works.
At first sight, the comparison between the two artists may seem paradoxical. They belong to different generations (Matisse was born in 1869 and Miró in 1893) and are generally associated with different artistic milieux (Fauvism in Matisse’s case, Surrealism in Miró’s) and aesthetic approaches (Matisse’s work is related to ‘decorative’ harmony while Miró’s is believed to be imbued with a sense of the uncanny). However, the exhibition aims to challenge stereotypes and underline the deep, lasting, and constructive relationships that exist between the two artists, their views on art and their works.
In both cases their creations are founded on a strong stand against the Western visual tradition. Driven by the same critical concern, Matisse and Miró developed expanded practices of drawing and painting. It should therefore come as no surprise that their paths converged and that they admired each other.
Starting with a focus on biographical information, the exhibition highlights the decisive moments when these exchanges were most productive: Miró’s conception of Fauvism in the late 1910s and early 1940s; the significance of his work which provided Matisse with a welcome stimulus in the mid-1930s as he was going through a pictorial crisis.
Finally, comparing Miró’s ‘assassination’ of painting and Matisse’s decorative aesthetics, the exhibition will explore the practices they had in common. It will showcase illustrated books and monumental compositions before sparking a dialogue between some of their latest works which, as their final acts of creation, ideally encapsulate their legacy.
Exhibition catalogue:
MiróMatisse. Beyond Images
Directed by Rémi Labrusse
Published by the Fundació Joan Miró, in Barcelona
208 pages – 45 € – Bilingual French/English