Joan Miró

The art work of Joan Miró always makes one smile. Born in Barcelona in 1893, Miró worked as an account clerk at a drugstore, but wanted to become an artist. When he became ill with typhoid fever he left his job and never looked back. After recovering, he studied at Francesc Galí's art school and at the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc. His first solo exhibition was held in Barcelona in 1918. In 1920, he began to spend winters in Paris, and became part of the local artistic and literary circles. Ernest Hemingway bought Miró's painting, The Farm, in 1923. Miró's first Parisian exhibition took place in 1925. His bold colors with wondrous shapes and simple lines put him in the camp of the surrealists - he was certainly one of the fun ones. For Diaghilev, he teamed up with Max Ernst to create the designs for Roméo and Juliette in 1926. His sculptures are destination points in Barcelona, Chicago, Paris, and New York. His ceramic murals were created for the Barcelona Airport, the Graduate Center at Harvard University, the Guggenheim Museum, and the UNESCO building in Paris. He bequeathed the Miró Foundation to the city of Barcelona, which includes one exhibit room set aside to show works by new artists to introduce them to the public. The foundation has the most extensive collection of Miró's works - almost 11,000 pieces, including: 240 paintings, 175 sculptures, 9 textiles, 4 ceramics, complete graphic works, and approximately 8,000 drawings. Amongst many honors, Google re-created their logo in Miró's style in honor of his birthday: another reason to smile. Miró died in 1983.