Moonbird

Artist: Joan Miró (Spanish, Barcelona 1893–1983 Palma de Mallorca)

Date: 1946

Medium: Bronze

Dimensions: 7 1/4 x 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (18.4 x 16.5 x 11.4 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection, 2002

Accession Number: 2002.456.121

Rights and Reproduction: © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Description

Miró molded this sculpture directly with his hands, forgoing prepartory drawings. The object’s lunar-shaped face has stylistic and thematic similarities with Miró’s other cosmically themed works. In 1966, Miró reworked this sculpture and cast it as a monumental bronze. While Miró first began to make small bronzes in 1944, his interest in sculpture began when he was just nineteen and a student at the Escola d’Art in Barcelona. One of his instructors there would blindfold him and ask the young artist to draw objects only using his sense of touch.

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