One of the first posters that Joan Miró designed is the famous Aidez l'Espagne, from 1937, made to support the Republican cause. That image of the pagès raising his fist is the living expression of both his spirit of struggle in favor of freedoms and his social, intellectual and political commitment to the society of his time. An exhibition that brings together a large part of the posters that the artist signed throughout his life is now on display at the Municipal Museum of Valldemossa (Mallorca), in the famous Cartoixa where Frederic Chopin and George Sand spent some time.
The exhibition includes fifty works owned by gallery owner Joan Oliver Maneu, one of Miró's friends in Mallorca. It is probably one of the most extensive private collections of Miró's posters and, with its exhibition, the owner intends that, in addition to the artist's work and legacy, his generosity be known. “It is an artistic exhibition, but it also seeks to be a mirror of the responsibility and generosity of Joan Miró with civil society”, says Mateu. Hence the title: Joan Miró, commitment and universal generosity.
This desire to highlight Miró's social commitment can be seen in one of the pieces that hang on the walls of La Cartoixa, which is also the origin of the entire exhibition. It is about the poster that he made for the Obra Cultural Balear (OCB) in 1978, and that supposed the economic salvation of the entity, which was bankrupt. Joan Oliver recounts that the entity's board of directors, of which he was a part, asked Miró for help, who was one of the most active partners and one of his most important economic collaborators. The answer was the poster, of which he gave away the circulation, in addition to 50 lithographs, the sale of which saved the institution from its disappearance.
In the exhibition you can see reproductions of well-known posters by the artist, such as the one he made for Barça or for the World Cup in Spain, some plates prior to printing various works, including the Congress of Catalan Culture, for example. , as well as several proofs of different compositions, some dedicated to the lithographer and collaborator of Miró Damià Caus. There is also an original by Miró, a singular work in which only his name can be seen, made in large strokes of black paint with his fingers.
“There are numerous institutions, clubs and entities that have benefited from the generosity of artists without compensation”, explains Maneu. The exhibition is initially open until November, but it has been installed with the intention of permanence. A grandson of the artist, Joan Punyet, was at the opening of the exhibition and the will is that this exhibition links with the permanent exhibition that hangs in the Joan Miró Foundation in Palma.
The sample, divided into different areas, groups the posters, plates or tests according to their content. The first of them, the one most linked to Mallorca, includes the posters that the artist made for other painters on the island or to support art galleries in Mallorca, such as Pelaires or 4 Gats. Another section shows Miró's political commitment, with the work carried out for the Congress of Catalan Culture in 1977, the OCB or the Writers in Catalan Language, in 1981. Below is a series of posters supporting international associations or those of a sports field, where the famous poster of the World Cup in Spain or the one dedicated to Barça appears. The exhibition continues with a section dedicated to cultural events with some of the personalities of the moment and closes with posters made by the artist for his own exhibitions.
The exhibition is completed with a series of letters and postcards that he sent to his friend Bartomeu Ferrà when he was in Paris, at a time between the wars in which Miró did not hide his contempt for Germany's expansive intentions.
