In Montriog in 1893, Joan Miro was born.
At fourteen he entered the School of Fine Arts of Barcelona and attended courses at the Gali Academy. Deciding that official teaching did more harm than good, so he went to work alone.
Dalmau, the manager of an art gallery in Barcelona organised Miro's first exhibition in 1918. At the time Miros works were clearly influenced by Van Gogh.
Cubism crept into his work in 1919. The drawing was dry, planes sharply evident, the colours were light without intensity.
For two years, dividing his time between Barcelona and Paris, he continued to execute landscapes and representational still lifes.
Miro seems to throw lines and spots on to the canvas, not thinking about their requirement of space or depth. Blood red, electric blues, black masses softly spread, vibrant lines. It is a dreamworld by a master technician. He is a surrealist painter with no contempt for the resources of his art.
Miro will never be the head of a school or the advocate of a trend. But he holds a place in contemporary art. He is not the highest place, but it is the least disputed.
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