Homme et femme 1935

Joan Miró made this painting, Homme et femme, with oil on canvas. Look at the way Miró applies paint here; it's so physical. He builds up the ground with layers of white, almost like plaster, and then scratches back into it, revealing the canvas beneath. The shapes are laid on top of this surface, in a completely different rhythm, like a fast dance. I love the little blue square at the bottom left. It's so out of place, like a rogue thought, and it is painted in a completely different way to the rest of the picture. The shapes, the black lines, the primary colors – these are all classic Miró, but the layering is something else. For me this work speaks to the way art can be a conversation, a back-and-forth between intention and accident, control and release. Just think of Cy Twombly, another artist who wasn't afraid to let the energy of the moment guide his hand.