Miró: The Ladder of Escape

Joan Miró lived through some of the most turbulent times the world has ever known. He spent a period in exile from his native Catalonia during the Spanish civil war, only to be forced into ‘internal exile’ by the onset of World War 2. He then spent a large period of his life living in opposition to a dictatorship that stood for everything he hated. Throughout all of this, he created some of the most vibrant and brilliant art of the 20th Century, and the Tate Modern’s ‘Miró : The Ladder of Escape’ collects many of his works to help celebrate his life.

The titular ladder of escape appears throughout the exhibition, symbolising Miró’s escape into fantasy and surrealism in many of his works. You can sense the internal conflict between more realist, political work, and the abstract surrealist paintings. While you could be forgiven for thinking that he gradually shifted from an angry, political stance to a more mellow, abstract style as the exhibition progresses, those thoughts come to an abrupt end when you enter a room containing what seems at first to be destroyed art. In this series, Miró quite literally paints with fire, burning large portions of his paintings to achieve a brutal and stunning style.

The centre pieces of the exhibit are a collection of four triptychs across two rooms. Each triptych consists of three giant paintings, angled towards you to create their effect. These huge works engulf the room, and while they initially seem to contain very little detail, they create a sense of calm as the colour fills your eyes. These works were released to huge acclaim at the time, and their effect on the room is incredible.

Much of his work during the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War is also on display. These pieces are clearly created from a painter feeling great anger at the political forces threatening to destroy Europe. One work, the Barcelona Series of lithographs, is spread along a single wall across three rooms. Each of these sketches show dictators, monsters and victims of the war. They’re drawn in a simple, yet revealing manner, and his motive behind them is clear as you progress along the seemingly endless array of characters.

His lost work, The Reaper, is shown in a book in the exhibition. This huge piece was lost after it’s initial showing, but the few images that can be seen here (the entrance shows the artist at work on this giant painting) show an expression of raw passion that surely would have made it one of his most famous works. While its loss is tragic, it doesn’t threaten to overshadow the career of an artist who maintained the peak of his creativity well into his golden years.

Miro: The Ladder of Escape is showing until September 11 at:

Tate Modern
Bankside
Waterloo
SE1 9TG

Tel: 020 7887 8888