Largest-ever Dutch exhibit of Joan Miró's sculptures opens in Beelden aan Zee museum

An exhibit of Catalan artist Joan Miró’s sculptures is opening in de Beelden aan Zee museum in The Hague today. The exhibit Joan Miró - Sculptures includes 55 of the grandmaster of surrealism’s sculptures and is the largest retrospective of his three-dimensional work ever featured in a Dutch museum.

Joan Miró (1893-1983) was especially known for his colorful surrealist paintings, drawings, and collages, but he did not receive recognition for his sculptures until much later, the Beelden aan Zee museum said. At age 81, Miró once joked: “I am an established painter but a young sculptor.”

His sculptures remain true to his original way of working, varying from figures that echo the formal language of his paintings to abstract birds and metaphorical portraits of women made using everyday objects.

Brigitte Bloksma, director of the Beelden aan Zee museum, called it a “tremendous privilege” to display this overview of Miró’s sculptures. “With his fertile imagination and innovative perspective on art, Miró influenced not only a great many artists but also the way in which countless admirers of his work view the world around them. With this exhibition, we hope that the sculptural work of one of the most unique and important artists of the twentieth century will receive the recognition and widespread acclaim it deserves,” she said.

38 of the 55 sculptures in the exhibit are on loan from the Fundació Joan Miró. “It is in sculpture where Joan Miró’s interest in materials and in the way they shape his work most clearly comes to the fore,” said the foundation director. Marko Daniel. “His curiosity and capacity for creation remained evident throughout his.” According to him, this carefully curated exhibit “demonstrates the consummate skill and wit with which he imbued his artworks with poetic life.”

Joan Miró - Sculptures will be on display from September 20 to March 2.