Joan Miró (1893-1983) studied art at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and at the Academia Gali.
In an effort to please his parents, Miró worked as an accountant for nearly two years until he had a nervous breakdown. After this moment he knew he had to embrace his passion. In 1921 he settled permanently in the French capital where he met Pablo Picasso and many of the other great painters and artists living in Paris. From 1924 on, Miró joined the circle of the Surrealist theorist André Breton. His painting style took a turn to Surrealism. His comrades were André Masson and Max Ernst, but he never integrated himself completely into this group dominated by André Breton. He remained an outsider, though his ideas had a great impact on the wider movement.
His work is characterised by brilliant colours combined with simplified forms and most strikingly he integrated elements of Catalan folk art into his works and he liked to compare his visual arts to poetry. In the 1930s the artist’s fame and recognition became international, yet he continued to work and develop his own artistic vision as well as push the boundaries of the media he employed. This is particularly true with printmaking as the artist is distinguished as one of the 20th Century’s greatest Painter- Printmakers.