Woman in Front of the Sun

This painting dates from 1950 and is one of the simplest abstract artworks created by Catalan painter, Joan Miro. As far as we can tell, this painting now resides within a private collection, which explains why there is relatively little information available on it today.

The artist would regularly represent the sun as a red circle, and we see that again here. His expressive, abstract approach meant that he would not attempt to make the circle perfectly round, but the mere suggestion of a circle should allow the viewer to understand what it symbolised. Those familiar with his paintings and the language that he used would therefore be able to understand each artwork much more quickly. The woman mentioned in the title is stood centrally, with arms and legs presented as paddles rather than fully formed, adapted limbs. This again reminds us of the influence of pre-historic art which ran through Miro's abstract work. He loved to reduce elements down to simple arrangements of standard shapes, with colour then playing an important role. Here he limits his palette, which allows the red sun to take our focus even more.

Stars are represented by Miro in his typical manner, with four lines intersecting each other in the middle. He would be compared to childish art, but the similarity was deliberate. Miro was able to work in a much more refined manner but simply chose not to, in order to encourage a new way of thinking and working within the art world. One can even see African art within this piece, with a single eye looking directly at us, similar to some masks we may have come across. This was a groundbreaking style, for westerners, even though it took inspiration from the past, and Miro was unable to achieve acceptance for it until several years later. Some would stick to traditional art and reject his fresh approach altogether, whilst others would eventually come round to his way of thinking after becoming convinced of its merits, after some initial shock.

With regards Woman in Front of the Sun, many different interpretations have been made about this composition, even though there is relatively little detail within it. For example, do the level at which the arms have been placed suggest that this woman is actually praying? Also, does the position of the sun and the tone of the background suggest that we are approaching night time? Quite possibly. The main icons of his language would continue to be women, suns, stars, eyes and birds, with Miro repeating them throughout a large number of drawings, paintings and sculptures. His brand was strong and instantly recognisable and he managed to bring along enough patrons who believed in what he was doing in order to make his career a real success. Today he is rightly regarded as one of the most important Spanish artists in history, going all the way back to the Spanish Golden Age and the early Renaissance.