Joan Miró (1893–1983) once famously declared that he wanted to assassinate painting. Today he is recognized as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. With a focused solo exhibition, the SCHIRN presents a previously little-discussed aspect of the Catalan artist’s work: Miró's preference for large-scale formats and his fascination with the wall. From early on, the wall was the starting point for his painting – the wall as an object to be depicted, and which at the same time would determine the physical and tactile quality of his painting. Miró distanced himself from the simple reproduction of reality and equated the picture plane with the wall. By using different colored grounds, coarse burlap, Masonite (hardboard), sandpaper and tarpaper, he created unique visual worlds of monumental dimensions and outstanding materiality. The exhibition covers over half a century of Miró’s oeuvre, beginning with his emblematic painting "The Farm" (1921/22), and continuing with his iconic dream paintings of the 1920s, his key work "Painting (The Magic of Color)" from 1930, his works and frieze formats painted on unconventional grounds in the 1940s and 1950s, to the brilliant late works such as the monumental triptych "Blue I–III" (1961) and the extraordinary "Paintings I–III" (1973). With this exhibition, which includes around 50 works of art from prominent museums worldwide, such as the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Museo Reina Sofía Madrid and the Centre Pompidou, Paris as well as important private collections, the SCHIRN opens up an entirely new approach to Miró's art.

An exhibition in cooperation with Kunsthaus Zurich.