Peinture (Escargot, femme, fleur, étoile) (Painting [Snail, Woman, Flower, Star])

In the 1930s, Joan Miró became immersed in the “assassination” of conventional painting, but without jettisoning his practice entirely. Towards 1933, he made a series of paintings with colourful biomorphic and abstract forms, in addition to a series of more Expressionist paintings he dubbed “wild paintings”. From the time of his arrival in Paris, Miró’s concerns had turned towards automatic writing and the random association of the Surrealists’ ideas. Seeking to translate this poetic language into his pictorial practice, he often introduced words into his works, and Peinture (Escargot, femme, fleur, étoile) (Painting [Snail, Woman, Flower, Star]) encompasses these influences, with organic forms and Expressionistic deformations sharing an ethereal space with the lyrical writing of words which lend the work its title. It was conceived as a cardboard work for a tapestry and commissioned by Marie Cuttoli, a collector, philanthropist and advocate for the contemporary tapestry.



Raúl Martínez Arranz