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Miró and the United States: A Transatlantic Dialogue
Table of Contents
Barcelona, 2026-01-25 01:09:00
A new exhibition explores the profound and reciprocal influence between Spanish artist Joan Miró and the American art world, revealing how his work shaped collecting and artistic development in the United States for decades.
“Miró and the United States,” currently on display at the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona and traveling to the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., demonstrates how Miró’s art was decisive in orienting formal research and collecting practices in the U.S.
- The exhibition highlights a dialogue between Miró’s work and that of American artists inspired by him.
- It reveals Miró’s important impact on artistic research and collecting trends in the U.S. beginning in the late 1920s.
- The show emphasizes a two-way influence,with Miró also being affected by the American artistic landscape.
- It showcases a diverse range of artists, including both well-known and lesser-known figures, illustrating the breadth of Miró’s impact.
Early Exposure and American Reception
Miró’s initial introduction to the American art scene occurred in 1926, when his paintings were featured in the International Exhibition of Modern Art at the Brooklyn Museum in New york. This exhibition was promoted by the societé Anonyme, an organization founded by Katherine Dreier, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray to champion European avant-garde art in the United States. This early exposure proved triumphant, laying the groundwork for his later acclaim.
In February 1947, Miró finally traveled to the United States, accompanied by his wife Pilar and daughter Maria Dolors. He expressed his eagerness to experience New York, stating, “I can’t wait to immerse myself in the tumult of New York!” according to the exhibition materials. This trip followed a period of isolation in Normandy and Catalonia during the Second World War, while many other artists were finding refuge in New York.
A Two-Way Influence
The exhibition emphasizes that Miró’s influence wasn’t one-sided. He, in turn, was deeply affected by the American artistic landscape. He admired the “freedom of the gesture” and “expressive…performative charge” of young American painters, even calling Jackson Pollock’s work “a starting point.” Robert motherwell, in the mid-1960s, declared that “Miró is the absolute European equivalent to what the Americans did.”
The impact of Miró’s “Constellations” series, exhibited in New York in 1945 at the Pierre Matisse Gallery, was notably profound. Barnett Newman described it as the beginning of a new artistic movement, proclaiming Miró “the pioneer” of a vision that would “change the face of art in the years to come.” Lee Krasner recalled the works being considered “small, unforgettable ‘miracles'” by her contemporaries.
Beyond the Canvas
Miró’s impact extended beyond painting. In 1967,the Guggenheim museum
