In a major Canadian premiere, Galerie Simon Blais is proud to present the exhibition Affectueusement, Miró, a series of large prints by the Spanish artist Joan Miró. Created in 1975 and 1976, the works that will be on view—every one of which is signed “Affectueusement, Miró”—come from a private European collection. In the main calling upon the techniques of engraving and colour aquatinting, the little creatures such as mice, birds, rats and moles that are the prints’ subjects contrast with the large size of the supports on which they are placed. They are sketched out in the lively, colourful style so characteristic of this major 20th-century artist’s work.
Joan Miró, born in Barcelona in 1893, discovered his passion for art while still a young child. Later, as a young adult, he studied at Barcelona’s La Lonja school of fine arts, as well as at the Galí Academy. In 1919 he went to Paris, where he met the greatest artists of the time. Initially influenced by the Fauves and Cubism, in the end he joined the group of Surrealists around André Breton. He was the subject of an impressive number of exhibitions throughout his career, and he created many works of public art, among them for Madrid, Barcelona, San Francisco, and Paris’ Place de la Défense. He died in Palma de Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, in 1983.
Since 1989, Galerie Simon Blais has showcased the talents of emerging and established artists working in such varied media as painting, drawing, sculpture, prints and photography. A dynamic exhibition space, the gallery is known both within Canada and abroad through its participation in various contemporary art fairs like Papier, Art Toronto, the Art Now Fair in Miami Beach, and SCOPE in New York.
Upcoming exhibitions: In order to mark Galerie Simon Blais’ 25th anniversary - 1989: An Unlikely Exhibition, and Here and Now: 2014, June 18–July 30, 2014.