Miró, 1983

Miró, 1983, which occupies the whole of the Moneo Building and the adjacent gardens, contains examples of all aspects of the collection. Consequently, not only can visitors get to know this artistic heritage, systematized by experts for the exhibition, but they can also gain an idea of what the artist was working on in his final years, a bit like walking into a time capsule.

Miró died on Christmas day 1983 at the age of 90. The first surprise is the number of projects that he was working on at the same time. The exhibition also shows that Miró was a prolific, innovative artist. He was interested in all art techniques and he excelled in all of them, striving always to experiment. At this exhibition of the collection, a symbol at the bottom of the museum labels indicates which paintings are completed and which are not, in addition to cases when there is some doubt. Normally, Miró signed his works and gave them a title when they left the studio, and so some may have been finished but not yet signed or allotted a title. The works of art from Miró’s final stage can be densely filled with images and expressionist in gesture, although on other occasions, they are stark and lyrical. In conjunction, they symbolize one of the most intense moments in 20th century art. Seeing numerous works still in the process of creation opens the gateway to understanding the mechanics of how Miró thought as an artist.

Miró, 1983 has been curated by writer and independent curator Enrique Juncosa, former deputy director of the Valencia Modern Art Museum (IVAM) and the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, and director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin from 2003 to 2012.