A universally recognized modernist master, Joan Miró does not fit comfortably into any of the established movements of the twentieth century. He was a fellow traveler of the surrealists and was celebrated by André Breton for his interests in dreams and poetic narratives, but he retained a sharply regional focus at odds with surrealism's predilection for universalizing psychology. His lyrical work looked back to 19th century Romantic painting, but spoke in a modern idiom.
Miró's paintings synthesize anecdotes into expressions of a frame of mind rooted in concrete particulars, as The Hunter (Catalan Landscape, 1924, The Museum of Modern Art, NY, cover image) makes clear. These aspects of Miró's work were explored by Pere Portabella in a pair of documentaries he made in 1973 (Miró Tapestry and Miró the Forge, [ Ссылка ]). Portabella characteristically develops analogies between the spaces in which Miró lived and worked and the cinematic structures (including lateral camera movements and associative montage) he sees as fundamental to film language.
A counterpart to Miró, the Forge, Miró Tapestry was a commission by the Galeria Maeght for a 1974 exhibit at the Grand Palais in Paris. It documents the creation of the massive World Trade Center Tapestry that was destroyed on September 11, 2001. Portabella characteristically finds striking montage connections not only between the different phases of the production process, but also between the artist's studio, his country house in Mont-roig del Camp, and the landscapes around Tarragona.
Watch the films and Learn More about Miró, documentary, the legacies of the Spanish Civil War, and Portabella's conception of montage and the cinematic "look" in our Exhibition and the associated Film Program.
Pere Portabella Exhibition:
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Pere Portabella and Spanish Independent Cinema Film Program:
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About Film Secession:
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1. Miró Tapís (Miró Tapestry, Pere Portabella, 1973)
2. Miró la Forja (Miró, the Forge, Pere Portabella, 1973, [ Ссылка ])
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