Pere A. Serra Knihy

Picasso said of Miró, "I admire and respect Joan because he is a man who is always in pursuit of a star. It is beautiful; it is something I have never been able to do." Born to a Mallorcan mother and married to a Mallorcan, Joan Miró is closely linked to the island, which is also Miró's space, as were Barcelona, Mont-Roig, and Paris in other times. The island of Mallorca played an undeniable role in the evolution of his aesthetics, particularly during three very important periods: childhood and youth; maturity, when he left Paris due to the imminent Nazi invasion; and finally, fullness and decline—more physical than artistic decline, as the vigor of his art is clearly evident in the very last engravings he created in Palma.