Painter, ceramist, sculptor, the Catalan Joan Miró, recognized as one of the most revolutionary artists of the 20th century, will be the protagonist of the exhibition entitled Miró – The Dream Builder, at the Museo Storico della Fanteria in Rome (P.zza Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, 7) from 14 September to 23 February 2025. The project, of an anthological nature, produced by Navigare Srl with the patronage of the Spanish Embassy in Italy; Instituto Cervantes of Rome; Lazio Region and the City of Rome, and curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Maïthé Vallès-Bled and Vincenzo Sanfo, consists of a selection of 140 works representative of Miró’s art, his revolutionary language and the experiments that characterized approximately 60 years of his long existence (1893-1983), leaving an indelible mark on the art and culture of our time.
With a collection of works created between 1924 and 1981, the exhibition will pay homage to the singularity of the great artist and his extraordinary aptitude for freedom, experimentation and independence from any artistic, social and cultural dogma. Little known to the general public, since they belong to private Italian and French collectors, the works on display will be presented in a path divided into 8 thematic areas: Lithographs; Posters; Poetry; Ceramics; Derrière le Miroir; Painting; Music; Miró and his friends, each of which refers to the passions and crossings of Miró’s art. In particular, among the works that will be exhibited, numerous lithographs curated by excellent printers and engravers such as Fernand Mourlot, who is responsible for the perfect and unparalleled color rendering in the printing process of the precious graphic works, stand out. There will also be some examples of hand-painted ceramics and the lithographic plates drawn to accompany the verses of Parler Seul by the Dadaist poet Tristan Tzara (1950), as well as the beautiful sketches for the staging of L’Uccello Luce (1981) by Silvano Bussotti, created on the occasion of the Venice Biennale.
The exhibition will also be enriched by a small section entitled Miró and his friends, including a dozen works by Man Ray, Picasso, Dalí, and photographs by Cohen and Bertrand, as well as books and documents by poets Breton, Éluard, Chair, Tzara, to highlight Miró’s various connections with the world of art and culture of the time. The exhibition intends to bring to the visitor’s attention, in particular, three aspects of the artistic creativity of the Catalan genius born in Barcelona: the revolution of artistic language ‒ brought from an introspective space to a balance between abstract and figurative, such as to realize a principle of impossibility, in which art overcomes every type of border; the dreamlike and lyrical dimension ‒ permeated by the unbridled freedom of a sensitivity translated into color, matter and signs where rationality, in a historical context in which political dictatorships will mark some of the darkest moments for Spain and the rest of the world, is silent; and, finally, the tenacious capacity for resistance, in which the joie de vivre and the expressive fervor are realized in a language of their own, in the elusive and primitive dimension of the deepest self. Miró – The Dream Builder is a cultural initiative of Difesa Servizi SpA, co-produced by Art Book Web and Diffusione Cultura Srl. Website: www.navigaresrl.com
