Miró in Mallorca

The are almost 170 works in the exhibitionJoan Miró. La forza della materia (Joan Miró: The Force of Matter) showing the importance that artist always gave to the substance. Not only paintings on canvas and paperboard, but also ceramics, sculptures and tapestries.

To better understand this prolific Catalan artist, you should visit the island of Mallorca, where the young Joan spent his summer vacations in the house of his maternal grandmother and where in 1940 he took refuge after the Nazis occupied Paris.

In Cala Major, close to he royal palace Marivent, the Fundación Pilar and Joan Miró occupies the finca purchased in 1956 when the artist, at the age of 63, moved permanently to Majorca. Even though building speculation has overshadowed the sea view throughout the years, the place has kept its charm. In fact, it is almost a gallery of architecture in the open air as well as a tribute to the work of this prolific artist, who always worked, full of energy up to 90 years.

The heart of the foundation is the star-shaped building designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo and perfect location for the artist’s work collection, donated to Palma Municipality and currently displayed in rotation. The flat roof, covered by water, is a trompe-l’oeil of the view that Miró enjoyed before the area was overbuilt. The organic garden will recreate the green space of the finca at the times of Miró. The inside interior, a large open space organized on multiple levels, art works are illuminated by natural light, filtered through alabaster slabs.

In 1956 Miró’s dream of a studio became real when he commissioned the project to the Catalan architect and friend Josep Lluis Sert. The result was a large space on two levels with windows that receive a soft natural light, reflected from the Majorcan stone wall. While entering this huge space it seems that the artist has just finished working. Twenty unfinished paintings on the easels (Miró worked simultaneously on several works), plus brushes, colors and objects source of inspiration: from newspaper clippings to Oceania masks.

Up the hill, Son Boter is a Majorcan traditional house with the typical heavy wooden door, pitched roof and stone walls. But it is inside that you will be fascinated by the intimate relationship between a rural space and the creativity of the artist who created with charcoal on the whitewashed walls sketches for future sculptures. A provocative and engaging set. On the first floor, closed to visitors, is the rest room, a storage where Miró would stop to relax and meditate, surrounded by oil paintings of his parents and photographies of friends.