Painting 1936

Joan Miró made this painting with oil on canvas, and if you look close enough you can almost see him doing it. There’s a lot of brown, black, and white, with pops of yellow and red. I can imagine Miró’s process of thinking, feeling, and then quickly moving. The brushstrokes are broad and gestural, like little dances. The black markings have a real solidity and feel decisive. But also, it feels really light. What’s holding it up? Is the brown supposed to be a ground? That white shape with the black cross on it, that’s so odd. It’s like a little face but also not. What was Miró thinking when he made that mark? It’s like he’s winking at us. He invites us to play and make up our own stories. Painters are always in conversation with each other, and with the past, so it is with us, as viewers. Miró's paintings feel incredibly unique and personal, but they also feel deeply rooted in the history of painting itself.