So much has been said about the return of the Joan Miro’s mural, "BIRD PEOPLE" at the Ulrich Museum, I feel that Miro is part of our community. We should know more about the man himself.
Miro had a genuine sense of humor and a lively wit, which also characterized his art.
His chief consideration was social--to get close to humanity.
Miro had kind eyes and an easy smile. In interviews, his voice is friendly, lively, and engaged. Miro was small in stature. He wore a proper suit and tie nearly every day.
In an interview for Vogue Magazine in 1967, he spoke about his love for food and said he liked simple, "peasant fare." He then shared his recipe for sautéed spinach with pine nuts and raisins.
Miro was a faithful husband and family man. He was married to Pilar Miro from 1929 until his death. They had a daughter, Maria Dolores, in 1931.
Miro said, "Poetry and painting are done in the same way you make love; it's an exchange of blood, a total embrace - without caution, without any thought to protecting yourself.”
Miro and American artist Alexander Calder--whom Miro called "Sandy"--were close friends. Upon Calder's death, Miro wrote "Sandy, Sandy, your ashes caress the rainbow flowers that tickle the blue of the sky".
In later life, Miro made art for the future. He said: "It's the young people who interest me, not the old dodos. If I go on working it's for the year 2000, and the people of tomorrow.”
Our gentle neighbor with the kind eyes died of heart failure on Christmas 1983.
And we have something monumental to remember him by.
