Press

Baden-Baden. The grand summer exhibition at the Museum Frieder Burda from
2 July 2010 to 14 November 2010 is dedicated to the artist Joan Miró. Under the title “Miró. The Colours of Poetry“, the museum will show around 100 works by the Catalan artist who so strongly influenced art of the 20th century. The pictures cover six decades of Miró’s work. Various famous private collectors and museums from all over the world have sent their paintings to Baden-Baden, among them the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Foundation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland, the Museums of fine arts in Basel and Bern, the Phillips Collection in Washington and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. A large number of works owned by the Miró-family itself are shown as well, this being a rare occasion. Also, the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca has lent first-class works to Baden-Baden. More than 30 international lenders are involved in this Miró exhibition.

The colourful paintings represent the main part of the exhibition, completed by paper works, ceramic works and sculptures. The exhibition is curated by Jean-Louis Prat, who was a close friend of Miró’s and organized exhibitions for him during his lifetime. Jean-Louis Prat is considered to be a worldwide expert on sculpture. In 2008, Prat curated the exhibition “The Sculptures of Painters“ for the Museum Frieder Burda, and in 2006 the grand Chagall exhibition, visited by more than 190.000 art enthusiasts.

Poetic language

“Miró style was not abstract or figurative, he used a very poetic language in his paintings“, Jean-Louis Prat explaines. Some among Miró‘s contemporary artists, he says, banned colour from their paintings, for Miró, though, colour always retained great importance. Thus red, green, yellow and blue are dominant in his paintings to be seen at the exhibition, illuminated by natural light in the Richard Meier building. Miró admired nature, he was fascinated and inspired by everyday objects and their beauty. Freedom, sense of humor, ease, but also violations of esthetic rules are typical of the works of the painter, draftsman, ceramic artist and sculptor, born in 1893 in Barcelona. He always avoided standstill or living in the past.

The exhibition includes rare smaller works from Miró’s early creative years. They help understand his development as an artist, evolving from figured presentation to symbolic picture subjects and ever recurring symbols. These mysterious symbols and colour stains on canvas, which resemble a music score but seem to emerge from a kind of dream world, are typical of Miró’s paintings. They reappear in his ceramic works and sculptures, contrasting his pictures.

Turning points in Miró’s creative work

The exhibition at the Museum Frieder Burda emphasizes the turning points in Miró‘s creative work. Joan Miró: “People will gradually understand better that I opened the doors to a different future, a future without false doctrines or fanaticisms“.

His works are accompanied by explanatory texts and historical photographs, which enable visitors to understand Miró’s life and work. A comprehensive catalogue is available:

Joan Miró. The Colours of Poetry, by Jean-Louis Prat and the Foundation Frieder Burda, published by Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern 2010, 224 pages, priced € 24,80.

Baden-Baden, July 2010

Further photo material contact our homepage on “Photo” / "Exhibitions"

Information:
“Miró. The Colours of Poetry“
From 2 July 2010 until 14 November 2010

parallel as small exhibition
to September, 19, 2010: Hommage to Sigmar Polke from the collection Frieder Burda

From September, 23 to November, 14, 2010
Aya Takano (SWR3 New Pop Art Artist 2010)

parallel in the Medienraum (Basement)
From Oktober, 20 to November, 14, 2010
Richard Meier: The Jewel in the Park
(Exhibition to the origins of the museum Frieder Burda)

Outlook:

Duane Hanson and Gregory Crewdson (From November 26, 2010 to March 6, 2011)

Frieder Burda Collection (From March 18, 2011 to May 22, 2011)

Neo Rauch in Baden-Baden (From June 2, 2011 to September 18, 2011)

William N. Copley (From September 30, 2011 to January 2012)

Museum Frieder Burda
Lichtentaler Allee 8b, 76530 Baden-Baden, www.museum-frieder-burda.de
Phone: (00)49–(0)7221–39898-0, Fax: (00)49–(0)7221–39898-30
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm, Monday closed

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Press contact:
Horst Koppelstätter and Ute Bauermeister
Koppelstätter Kommunikation GmbH
Friedrichstr. 2, 76530 Baden-Baden
Phone: 0049 7221/97372-0, Fax: 0049 7221/97372-22
museum@koppelstaetter-kommunikation.de