The personal philosophy that informed Joan Miro´s early, more experimental style paved the way for his more unique works, and finally his later more subdued pieces. As the artist matured, he was continually trying out new ideas and expressing his thoughts through visual media.
Even at the time of his death, Miro was considered an “old master”, primarily for his Constellation series, and earlier works in his massive corpus of paintings and sculptures. Many of the works found in Miro´s studio at the time of his death had no titles or dates, and thus they were ignored by critics who could not decide whether the works were finished.
Compared to his vibrant and colorful works of the 20s-60s, Miro´s late works appear formless, repetitive and barren. It is these works, however, that represent the culmination of one man´s seven-decade journey of aesthetic expression. It is in these works of the twilight years that we see the ideas of an old man expressed in paint. Once vibrant and exciting, his pallet became dull and his lines choppy. Once full of figures and symbols representing a whole invented language, his works became bare, desolate and disjointed. Although this seems like a break from style coming from an old and tired man, these works represent much more the artist´s progressive psyche.
Miro was aware that he was in his final stages of artistic production. He worked on as many as 10 large canvases at a time, and remained in good health and mental control until his final year. His attitudes toward death and the culmination of his work are summed up in his statement that “what is important is not to finish a piece, but to leave a glimpse of something that can lead to the start or creation of another artist´s work.” Miro was far ahead of his time and understood that his legacy would influence a great deal of artists in the future. His latest works, stark black and foreboding are a perfect example of the transition of the artist into his next stage, and of art into it´s next movement.
