Pair of Lovers Playing with Almond Blossoms

In 1975 artist Miro produced a large sculpture titled Pair of Lovers Playing with Almond Blossoms which was intended to be displayed at La Défense, Paris. An earlier model for this project can still be found today in the Fundacio Joan Miro in Barcelona, Spain.

By the 1970s, the artist was starting to become more ambitious within the medium of sculpture, and his work would start to become larger. He also received some prominent commissions for outdoor pieces and really enjoyed the challenge being placed in front of him. In order to appease patrons he would have to complete small models first, but this method was entirely normal and was used regularly by artists in the Renaissance as a means to avoiding too many alterations once the main piece was first completed. The nature of Pair of Lovers Playing with Almond Blossoms makes a model fairly accurate as to how the larger piece would look, as there is not a wealth of information. Miro attempts a fairly minimal approach here, with simple shapes adorned with bright colour. The larger piece would therefore have been fairly faithful to the smaller original model.

The original French title for this piece was Couple d'amoureux aux jeux de fleurs d'amandier and we find two figures delivered in an entirely abstract, perhaps even surrealist, world. One is captured as a tall cyclinder with yellow and reddish regions, with a blue ball shape on top. The round blue shape is decorated with pre-historic style abstract shapes which would deliver symbolic meaning to this intriguing piece. There is then a second tall construction, with a pointed blue shape that leans away, though with a red claw-like feature which is placed around half way up. It could perhaps be a hand reaching out to catch the ball which sits on the other figure, but it is very hard to be sure without further exploration into the piece.

The larger finished sculpture was placed outdoors and serves as a constant reminded as to the brilliance of Miro. It was only towards the end of his career that he started to produce huge artworks such as this and he was quoted as saying that it was only sculpture that offered him a real opportunity to work in the way that he desired. The full three dimensions allowed him to get closer to creating the worlds that he desired. It is surprising to hear that from someone who has always been most famous for his paintings, though today a better understanding of the full breadth of his oeuvre now exists, thanks to a number of high profile exhibitions which have attempted to present to the public a more rounded view of his achievements.