Miros biography

Joan Miro Ferra was an influential 20th-century painter, sculptor, ceramicist and printmaker, who was born in 1893 in the Catalan region of Spain, near Barcelona.

He began drawing as a young boy, and later attended a business school, as well as La Lonja School of Fine Arts. At the latter school, he was encouraged by two teachers; one encouraged him to revive the spirit of primitive Catalan art, combining it with modern discoveries and techniques.

(This was in the beginning of the 20th century, at the time modern art was just beginning in Europe, and the creative climate was energetic and progressive.) As a youth, he was exposed to the rich folklore of Catalonia, which later influenced his images, such as how he saw all-natural forms as beings, including pebbles and trees.

He was also exposed to complete interiors of ninth to twelfth-century frescoed churches in visits to the Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, with their relatively crude execution and their simpl