Peinture (1926)

This painting from 1926 is amongst Miro's most simplistic abstract artworks. There is a dashed line which separates the scene into three, along with the large circle in the top left and an oblong close to the bottom.

The artist placed a smiling face within the large white circle, creating the start of a character. The placement in the top left suggests this might also serve as a sun or moon, just as he did in many other paintings. One assumes that this circle should be the main focal point, as the black elements are harder to pick up against the brown background. There is also a faint line which makes its way from the circle to the large rectangle at the bottom, could this be an overall figure? Or are the elements all, ultimately, independent. We can start the learn the real truth by also studying the artist's other paintings, particularly those of a similar style or from around this period of his career.

Miro learnt from a young age that even the great masters who incorporate a small element of randomness within their work. A certain natural chance was used in the paintings of Da Vinci, for example, though typically within the background where the eyes would not initially head. He also appreciated the work of Caravaggio and El Greco during visits to the Louvre - an art museum which has inspired thousands of artists over the past few centuries. Paris itself has amongst the finest collections of art galleries in the world, though credit also has to be given to the likes of London, New York and Madrid too.

Miro demonstrates here a clear decision to move away from cubism, with that style have dominated his work in recent years. There is a clear relaxation here in terms of form and detail, it is experimental and also fun. Miro would use abstract art for several decades, but often varied the amount of detail that he used. Later on, a visual language would appear, which made it easier to decipher his paintings, but in the earlier days there is not the same consistency or guidance for us to understand the various elements used.