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Painting

A work made of oil, gravel, pebbles, and sand on masonite.
© 2018 Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

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  • A work made of oil, gravel, pebbles, and sand on masonite.

Date:

summer 1936

Artist:

Joan Miró
Spanish, 1893–1983

About this artwork

In 1927, in the spirit of modernist challenges to authority and convention, Joan Miró declared his intent to “assassinate painting” and upend its traditional hierarchies of materials and subject matter. Painting demonstrates Miró’s ongoing search for new artistic materials, including gravel and sand mixed into oil paint, which he applied to Masonite, a rugged support he favored over traditional canvas. Fascinated by the effect of such rough substances, the artist told his dealer not to worry if any materials came loose when the work was exhibited overseas, since it would “make the surface … look like an old crumbling wall, which will give great force to the formal expression.”

Status

On View, Gallery 393

Department

Modern Art

Artist

Joan Miró

Title

Painting

Place

Spain (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1936

Medium

Oil, gravel, pebbles, and sand on Masonite

Inscriptions

Signed, l.r.: "Miró"

Dimensions

77.6 × 107.2 cm (30 9/16 × 42 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Florene May Schoenborn and Samuel A. Marx

Reference Number

1950.1518

Copyright

© 2018 Successió Miró / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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