In 1919, Joan Miro left his native country of Spain for France,
where, along with fellow Spaniard Salvador Dali, he became
one of the pioneers of Surrealism. Inspired by the movement's
engagement with psychology and poetic play with form, Miro
developed a dreamlike style based on whimsical allusions to
reality and lyrical, fancifully colored compositions. In May 1940,
after the invading German troops disturbed Miro's quiet life in
Varengeville, a village on the northern coast of France, he
returned to Spain. In June he settled in the town of Palma de
Mallorca, where he was to remain until the summer of 1941. In
Palma, Miro resumed work on his Constellations series, which he
had abandoned when he left Varengeville. "Toward the Rainbow" is
the fifteenth in a series of twenty-three gouaches on paper that
were produced over twenty-one months from January 1940 to
September 1941. Characteristic of the works begun at the end of
his stay in France and those painted in Spain, the entire sheet of
paper is covered with hourglass shapes and a multitude of forms
suggesting stars, eyes, circles, triangles, and crescents that are
linked by thin black lines to evoke a fantastical wrought-iron
screen or perhaps a magical constellation in the cosmos. Each
picture took about a month to complete.
Much has been written about these Constellations, and
Miro often referred to them himself. Their consistent strength,
vivid colors, gaeity, and poetry provide a striking contrast with
the dark period in which they were created. In fact, these
gouaches seem to represent the artist's escape from the terrors of
World War II. Looking back on the period in 1948, Miro told an i
nterviewer that in France in 1939 "a new stage in my work began
which had its source in music and nature. It was about the time
that the war broke out. I felt a deep desire to escape. I closed
myself within myself purposely. The night, music, and the stars
began to play a major role in suggesting my paintings."
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