By KATHERINE GRABOWSKY

Joan Miró was best known as a Spanish Catalan artist that specialized in many different art mediums. The Farm by Miró exemplifies his time on his family’s farm in the village of Montroig as a child. Miró cherished his memories form his childhood and depicted this home as a Utopia where no wrongdoings could occur. Miró considers this work “a summary of my entire life in the countryside” with the cheerful atmosphere definitely present. This was painted between the summer of 1921 and the winter of 1922 and took as many as eight hours a day for nine months to finish. He created this on return from his trip to Paris when he was 29 years old. This work was regarded as the starting point of his years working with surrealism. Miró considers this his first masterpiece and it is evident that you spent many years in this style after the completion of The Farm.

Miró’s bright colors add a light feel to the painting to balance out the busy subject. The painting is bottom-heavy with most of the action occurring on the bottom half of the painting, though the rich blue sky still steals some of the focus. The loose leaves add an element to the sky that brings the painting together to be one. The tree seems to split the painting in two dissimilar halves with a Spanish building on each side. His Spanish roots are made clear with the Spanish-styled building on the left side of the landscape. Also, many aspects of the painting such as the animals are taken from medieval Spanish artwork. The busy landscape provokes a sense of peace apparent through the vibrant colors and cheerful subjects.

Miró said, “The Farm was a résumé of my entire life in this country,” and that he wanted to “put everything I loved about the country into that canvas - from a huge tree to a tiny snail.” This work of art uses stunning colors and a richly decorated landscape to encapsulate Miró’s life on the farm.