Visit to Fundacio Joan Miro

Saturday February 28 was a predominately sunny day- again about 14C.  We started the day by going to our closest market called Mercat Santa Caterina.  This market was the first enclosed market in Barcelona and it opened in 1848.  It was beautifully remodelled between 1997-2005 and has a beautiful soaring wooden roof (Catalan style).  We have been to four markets in Barcelona and they have all been exceptionally clean, well lit with excellent produce, meats and fish.  Fruit and vegetables are always beautifully arranged reminding us of the displays at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Outside of the Mercat Santa Caterina

Another view of the outside of the market

Gorgeous Catalan bread specialties

Another dorade for Sunday dinner

We bought food for our lunch and for Sunday dinner.  The markets are all closed on Sundays.

After lunch, we headed out to visit the Fundacio Joan Miro, which has the largest collection of Joan Miro's (1893-1983) works in the world.  Miro had the idea for the museum in 1968 and he formed the foundation with his friend Joan Prats (a hatter and supporter of the arts).  He wanted to create a venue for his own work and to encourage younger artists to experiment with contemporary art.  The building was designed by his close friend Catalan architect Josep Lluis Sert.  It opened in June 1975 and is located on the mountain of Montjuic.  We had mapped out a walking route to a funicular which was to take us up the mountain.  Luckily, we got a bit lost, but found a bus that was heading up to Montjuic, as the funicular was not working.   We had an excellent audio tour with lots of add-ons and  ended up spending almost four hours at the museum.

Entrance to the museum

Sculpture in olive tree garden--- hard to see the glove
Alano- if the glove fits....

There was a wonderful piece by Alexander Calder just inside the entrance entitled "Mercury Fountain".  It is a beautiful but toxic fountain of mercury and is therefore in an enclosed space.  Calder was a great friend of Miro.   This piece was displayed at the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris.  There is a reference to Almaden, Spain where the world's largest source of mercury was mined.

Miro had done a mural for the Spanish Pavilion, which disappeared after its closing.  Calder's piece was placed in front of Picasso's Guernica, which was also displayed in the Pavilion.  Even though the Civil War was raging by that time, the Republican government thought it important to have a presence at the Fair.

Calder's Mercury Fountain 1937

We were not allowed to take pictures inside-- I snapped a few, but also downloaded a few of the pictures we had seen, from the internet.   Miro was born in 1893 in Barcelona and had his first show in 1918.  His early works were largely landscapes showing the influence of Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh.  He also had a strong tie to the countryside and his family had a country home in Mont-roig.   He moved to Paris in 1920 and associated with many of the painters and writers who were living in Paris at the time.  Ernest Hemingway purchased one of his pieces entitled The Farm.  In 1924 Miro joined the surrealist group, but his works always maintained a symbolic, schematic language.  Until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he returned to Spain in the summers.  Once the war began, he was unable to return home.  His piece entitled The Reaper, which he did for the Spanish Pavilion took on a more politically charged meaning.  He also designed a stamp for the Republic in 1937, which while never issued, though the work was published in an art magazine.

In 1939, Miro moved to Normandy, but with the German invasion, he returned to Spain.  There he worked on a series of works called Constellations.  He focused on women, birds, and the moon, which would dominate his works for the rest of his life.   Miro also painted darker scenes during the Spanish Civil War and World War II.  In later years, Miro focussed on large pieces and also worked with other artists on tapestries and ceramics.  He also was a sculptor.   In 1947, he created a tapestry for the World Trade Centre in New York City together with the Catalan artist Josep Royo.   It was one of the most expensive works of art destroyed on September 11, 2001.

Most of Miro's works were well planned out through initial drawings and not improvised as one might think.  He had a wonderful sense of colour and we both found his work very uplifting.  He married in 1929 and had one daughter born in 1931.  He had four grandchildren.  Miro first went to the United States in 1947 and was the subject of many retrospectives around the world.  He also spent time in Japan and was influenced by various aspects of Japanese art.

Aidez Espagne-- stamp design done for the Republic  1937

Maquette for 1975 piece entitled Lovers Playing with Almond Blossoms  (at La Defense Paris)

The White Glove- 1925

Tapestry of the Foundation, 1979 done with Royo

Morning Star 1940

The Wine Bottle 1924

The Gold of the Azure- one of my favourites

Woman dreaming of Escape1945

Catalan Peasant in the Moonlight 1968

Figure in Front of the Sun 1968

The Smile of a Tear 1973

Miro also did a series of burnt out canvases in his 80s and some additional political pieces during the May 1968 Paris student uprising.  He moved to Palma, Majorca in 1956, where Sert designed his studio.

After visiting the art inside the building, we made our way to the terrace where there were a number of Miro's colourful sculptures.

A woman (Miro used many images from rural life here)

There was also a wonderful view of the city from Montjuic.

View of Barcelona ( a Miro sculpture in the foreground)

Cathedral in the distance

As we were leaving at about 7:00 pm., I took one last picture of the building.

Outside of Fundacio at night

A visit to the Fundacio is a must for any visitor to Barcelona.  While we had visited in 1998, we got so much more from the works and the excellent audio guide.

We found a bus that went to the Placa de Catalunya, a short distance from our apartment.

We went for dinner at Senyor Parellada, a restaurant recommended by a woman who made wonderful leather purses in a store called Conpasion on our street.   She said that though it looked fancy, the reataurant had wonderful Catalan food, good prices and the locals ate there.  We took her advice.  150 years ago, the building housing the restaurant was a large house near the dock (the water is much further away now).  The food was delicious and the restaurant was filled mostly with locals.

Beautiful setting

Part of the Menu in Catalan

Alano and I shared excellent cod fritters, an amazing artichoke and mushroom fricassee and a huge pot au feu with fish, meat, sausage and vegetables.  It was all excellent and filling.  We had a bottle of wine (for the unbelievable price of 6.10 Euros) as there really wasn't any wine by the glass.

Ample portion of Catalan pot au feu

Artichoke and mushroom fricassee

Cod fritters, very light

Alano with the wine

We were only five minutes from the apartment, which was handy.  Another wonderful day in Barcelona.