If something defines Barcelona is its most artistic aspect. Something that can be seen throughout the city, thanks to the number of painters, sculptors and architects who have lived in it and have left their mark in the quarters and squares.
Joan Miró, born in Barcelona, was a complete artist: Catalan painter, sculptor, engraver and ceramist; he was considered to be one of the most prominent representatives of surrealism. To get to know his work better and its contact with the city, it is vital to visit the Miró Foundation, located in the mountain of Montjuïc, and opened in 1975, represents a great cultural and artistic center created to promote new trends in contemporary art . With works donated by Miró, you can see in the foundation some of his most characteristic paintings and sculptures, with a total of more than 104,000 pieces: paintings, sculptures and tapestries, and over 8,000 references of preparatory drawings of Miró's works.
Although it is a lesser known place, it is interesting to see where Joan Miró was born. In number 4 of the Pasaje del Crèdit, a hidden Gothic street in Barcelona, located between Ferran, Avinyó, Baixada de Sant Miquel and the plaza Sant Miquel. Miró lived in one of these houses for years and also had his workshop there for a time. There is also a plaque in recognition of the artist on his 90th anniversary. From the Gothic quarter we move to the Sants-Eixample neighborhood, to discover there a key work in the artist's life. It is the sculpture Dona i Ocell, (woman and bird), that was elaborated in the year 1982, next to Joan Gardy Artigas. This sculpture was inaugurated a year later and we find it located in the park Joan Miró of Barcelona. Of 22 meters of height, it was realized in concrete and was covered of ceramics. Although it is somewhat complicated to imagine, the sculpture has a female form and above the hat of the alleged woman is the image of a bird.
Barcelona is full of places that served as a workshop in the creative process of the artist. We highlight the Arc de Jonqueres street and the one on Sant Pere més Baix street, 51. Following the traces of Miró in Barcelona, we can mention that, in the renovation of the Port Olímpic quarter on the occasion of the 1992 Olympic Games, a street was named after him in the Olympic Village.
The Ramblas are enigmatic and a must to walk down it in Barcelona. What some of its touristsdo not know is, that during the walk, there can be seenis a mosaic of circular form by Miró located in the pavement, in Pla de l'Òs, near the Liceu Theater.
The Ramblas are enigmatic and a must to walk down it in Barcelona. What some of its touristsdo not know is, that during the walk, there can be seenis a mosaic of circular (Photo by M. Peinado, CC BY-SA 2.0) form by Miró located in the pavement, in Pla de l'Òs, near the Liceu Theater. Now this work is about 40 years old and the objective of the artist to place it here, was to greet the tourists who came from different parts of the world. The work measures about 65 m2 and is composed of small tiles of terrazzo of 10 by 10 centimeters in five colors, already characteristic by the painter: red, yellow, blue, black and white. The mosaic is not protected by any glass or special material, as requested at the time by Miró , and that’s why it loses some tiles over the years.
This work, designed to welcome tourists arriving to the city by the sea, is not just by chance and it is not the only one that wants to greet foreigners. There is another: the large mural that decorates Terminal 2 of Barcelona-El Prat Airport, which opened in 1970 to welcome the visitors who come to the city by air. The artist's step through Barcelona is also seen in some companies, keys in the city, because it was the artist who designed the logo of La Caixa, which has its main headquarters at the entrance of the city, on Avenida Diagonal. The artist died in Palma de Mallorca, where he lived long periods in his last stage. But days later he was buried in the cemetery of Montjuïc, of Barcelona, quite near its Foundation. So you can also see his grave in this place.
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