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Anyone who wants an overview of Joan Miró's (1893-1983)
work can ascend the Montjuïc and visit the Foundation
that one of the most famous Catalonian artist opened in
1971. It contains more than 5,000 drawings, 217
canvases, paper, wood and other materials, 153
sculptures, 9 textile works and all the graphics by this
extremely prolific artist. The museum was built by Josep
Lluís Sert, a friend of Miró. From 1987 to 1988 it was
extended by the architect Jaume Freixa, very much in the
spirit of Sert's architectural principles. The rooms
have a striking simplicity, based on a clear ground-plan
and balanced proportions. The cubic forms and the shiny
white concrete have a Mediterranean feel to them; a
square patio forms the centre and includes various
sections of the building: museum, gallery, library,
shops, restaurant with garden terrace, and several more
rooms as well. On three levels, broad passageways lead
around the centrally located inner courtyard, and an
unobstructed panoramic view across Barcelona connects
the collection with the city. Indirect natural light
facilitates viewing of the artworks on display - indeed,
this is a very good place to look at the originals in a
new light. The results are more than surprising, because
the work of Miró - like that of Matisse or Picasso - has
been disfigured by a flood of reproductions on
calendars, postcards, coffee mugs, T-shirts and so on
that have rendered his large-format, powerfully-
coloured, superficially naive figures harmless - a
veritable triumph of art merchandising.
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