Paintings on masonite

Paintings on masonite is a series of 27 abstract paintings made by Joan Miró using the type of proprietary hardboard known as masonite, just after the Spanish Civil War started on 18 July 1936. These works break with his earlier phase which was known as his wild paintings period. This was a label established to describe the work done during the two years preceding the Civil War, between 1934 and 1936.

Paintings on masonite
ArtistJoan Miró
Year1936 (1936)
TypeOil, tar, sand and casein on masonite
Dimensions78 cm × 108 cm (32+1⁄4 in × 40+3⁄4 in)

Description and reviews

Rosa Maria Malet Ph.D, President of the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona (1980-2017), compares masonites with the wild paintings immediately preceding, painted on copper and other materials:

On July 18,the civil war is declared. Given this fact, Miró painted witnesses of the facts, but a kind of direct and violent exorcisms, the 27 masonites. What is wild in this series are not representations, but the very act of painting. The monsters are replaced by the painter's direct attack on the canvas that serves as a stimulus. The matter of funds, masonite, it will never be completely hidden. Miró created a mix with casein, black Ripoli, sand, bitumen ... [...] The masonites have the force of a shout.

— Rosa Maria Malet[1]

The Museum of Modern Art in New York also emphasizes the violence of the technique:

[...] it has long been suggested that these works represent Miró’s response to the emotional and physical turmoil in his homeland, although the artist insisted that they were produced "despite the current events." In these works, narrative is replaced by a heightened emphasis on texture and materials, including oil and enamel paints, casein, tar, sand, and pebbles. Miró sometimes violently attacked his Masonite panels, gouging craters into their fibrous matrix, creating irreversible marks and conveying a sense of raw immediacy.

— MoMA Press[2]

The works were painted in Mont-roig del Camp[3] and Barcelona.[4] Shortly after he finished these paintings, the artist left the country and went back to Paris, in the fall of 1936, where he would stay for four years.

The series
Register Artwork Date Format Size (cm) Museum City Ref.
Painting I Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting II Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting III Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting IV Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting V Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting VI Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting VII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting VIII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting IX Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum Nagasaki [5]
Painting X Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XI Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XIII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XIV Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 108 × 78 cm Fundació Joan Miró Barcelona [5][6]
Painting XV Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Israel Museum Jerusalem [5]
Painting XVI Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XVII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 108 × 78 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XVIII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XIX Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XX Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XXI Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Fundació Joan Miró Barcelona [7][8]
Painting XXII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XXIII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Art Institute of Chicago Chicago [5]
Painting XXIV Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 108 × 78 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XXV Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]
Painting XXVI Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection London [5]
Painting XXVII Summer of 1936 Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite 78 × 108 cm Private collection ND [5]

See also

References
  1. Malet, Rosa Maria. Joan Miró (Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa, 1983), pp. 14–15
  2. MoMA Museum Presents the First Major Exhibition to Focus on the Transformative Decade of Joan Miró's Work between 1927 and 1937 Archived 2010-07-08 at the Wayback Machine - press release by the exhibition "Miró: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927–1937" in the Museum of Modern art in New York (MoMA) in 2008–2009, the section works on masonita, p. 6.
  3. online guide to the exhibition Miró 2011 room, 5 Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, to the page of Tate Modern in London. Accessed 26 August 2011.
  4. "Joan Miro: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927–1937. The Museum of Modern Art, New York (November 2, 2008 to January 12, 2009)" by Michele Leight, The City Review, Manhattan, 2008
  5. Dupin, Jacques; Ariane Lelong-Mainaud (June 2000). Miró. Paintings II. 1931-1941. pp. 158–175. ISBN 2-86882-037-9.
  6. Rosa Maria Malet; Joan Miró (2003). Joan Miró: apunts d'una col·lecció : obres de la Gallery K. AG. Fundació Joan Miró. ISBN 978-84-932159-8-9. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  7. "Information about the work the Foundation website". Foundation. 2011. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. "Pintura, 1936 Oli, quitrà, caseïna i sorra damunt masonite". Obra de Joan Miró. Pintures. Fundació Joan Miró. Retrieved 1 April 2014.

Further reading
  • Clavero, Jordi.J (2010). Fundació Joan Miró. Foundation's Guide. Barcelona: Polígrafa. ISBN 978-84-343-1242-5.
  • Malet, Rosa Maria (1983). Joan Miró. Barcelona: Polígrafa. pp. 14–15.
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