The Shape of Color

Colourful, humour-filled and provocative, Joan Miró’s late painted sculpture forms a beautiful, little known group of medium- and large-scale works. Miró (1893-1983), best known for his paintings, is recognised as part of this Surrealist and Modernist canon. This elegant volume is the first ever in-depth study of his exuberant, brilliantly painted late sculpture, fully illustrated with related and seldom exhibited studies and sketchbooks, maquettes, documentary photographs and rare film stills of Miró working on his group of sculptures. An accessible narrative by leading scholars offers new documentation about the inspiration for and creation of the sculpture, along with fresh interpretations of its place in Miro’s work, its cultural context and its critical reception. The book accompanies an exhibition opening at the Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, D.C. in September 2002. In January 2003 the exhibition will travel to the Salvador Dali Museum of Art in St Petersburg, Florida, after which the sculptures will return to their permanent homes at the Miró Foundations in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, Spain.