Joan Miró

Widely considered one of the leading Surrealists (though he was never officially part of the group), Joan Miró was also a pioneer of automatism: a method of spontaneous drawing that attempted to express the inner workings of the human psyche. Miró used color and form in a symbolic manner, developing intricate compositions and a wandering linear style that combined abstract elements with recurring motifs such as birds, eyes, and the moon. During his lifetime, Miró received the Grand Prize for Graphic Work at the 1954 Venice Biennale, exhibited at the first Documenta exhibition in 1955, and enjoyed multiple high-profile retrospectives. Today, Miró’s work—which has sold for eight figures at auction—can be found in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art, among other institutions. His public sculptures and murals are installed in cities around the world, including Milan, Paris, and Barcelona.