Paintings on masonite explained

Paintings on masonite
Artist:	Joan Miró
Type:	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite
Height Metric:	78
Width Metric:	108
Imperial Unit:	in
Metric Unit:	cm

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.

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:

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

The works were painted in Mont-roig del Camp^[1] and Barcelona.^[2] 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	^[3]
	Painting II	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting III	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting IV	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting V	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting VI	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting VII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting VIII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting IX	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum	Nagasaki
	Painting X	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XI	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XIII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XIV	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	108 × 78 cm	Fundació Joan Miró	Barcelona	^[4]
	Painting XV	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Israel Museum	Jerusalem
	Painting XVI	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XVII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	108 × 78 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XVIII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XIX	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XX	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XXI	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Fundació Joan Miró	Barcelona	^[5] ^[6]
	Painting XXII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XXIII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Art Institute of Chicago	Chicago
	Painting XXIV	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	108 × 78 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XXV	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND
	Painting XXVI	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	London
	Painting XXVII	Summer of 1936	Oil, tar, sand and casein on masonite	78 × 108 cm	Private collection	ND

See also

• The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego, and Señor Xolotl, a painting on masonite by Frida Kahlo.

Further reading

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

External links

• "Joan Miró: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927-1937. The Museum of Modern Art New York (November 2, 2008 to January 12, 2009)", Michele Leight, The City Review, Manhattan, 2008.
• "MoMA Presents the First Major Museum Exhibition to Focus on the Transformative Decade of Joan Miró's Work between 1927 and 1937"

Notes and References

1. http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/joanmiro/room5.shtm online guide to the exhibition Miró 2011 room, 5
2. http://www.thecityreview.com/miromoma.html "Joan Miro: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927–1937. The Museum of Modern Art, New York (November 2, 2008 to January 12, 2009)"
3. Book: Dupin . Jacques . Ariane Lelong-Mainaud . Miró. Paintings II. 1931-1941 . June 2000 . 2-86882-037-9 . 158–175 .
4. Book: Rosa Maria Malet. Joan Miró. Joan Miró: apunts d'una col·lecció : obres de la Gallery K. AG. 8 October 2011. 2003. Fundació Joan Miró. 978-84-932159-8-9.
5. Web site: Information about the work the Foundation website . Foundation . 2011.
6. Web site: Pintura, 1936 Oli, quitrà, caseïna i sorra damunt masonite . Fundació Joan Miró. Obra de Joan Miró. Pintures . 1 April 2014.