"Sota les capes de Miró" or the secrets of a work of art, uncovered
Fundació Joan Miró dedicates an exhibition and a documentary to scientific research about an art piece.
What can science tell us about a painting beyond what can be seen at first glance? Apparently, a lot of things, as you can see in the exhibition and documentary dedicated to showcasing to the public the results of applying research techniques to a piece of art. Until 29 June, at Fundació Joan Miró, come and discover what there is ‘Under Miró's Layers’.
Both the exhibition and the documentary talk about the research process stem from the work commissioned for Pintura, a work by Joan Miró dating around 1925.
The work is part of the Foundation's Collection and was a gift from Miró himself to his friend and gallery owner Joan Prats. The analysis of the painting was entrusted to the Centre's Department of Preventive Conservation and Restoration, with the collaboration of CRBMC and Pablo de Olavide University of Seville.
Non-invasive techniques were used to examine the painting in depth and to determine in detail what types of pigments and binders were used in the creation of the piece. Radiographic images, infrared photographs, hyperspectral images... All these techniques and some others have revealed hitherto unknown details of the painting.
As early as 1978, when it passed into the Foundation's hands, a report noted the poor state of conservation of the painting and the fact that, under the painting, an unidentified earlier portrait appeared.
The study has established that Miró used as the basis of his work a painting by another artist which, it seems, was a portrait of his mother, the same as can be seen in this photograph by Daniel Frasnay in which the painter appears. At different times Miró reused paintings considered ‘academic’ by other artists in order to paint over them, often leaving a fragment of the original uncovered, in a kind of criticism of conventional art.
The documentary El secret de Miró, directed by Lluís Jené, accompanies the exhibition. It explores the causes that led Miró to use that portrait to paint over it, hiding the image of his mother. The documentary can be seen through the channels set up by the Foundation and also on the CaixaForum+ platform.
If you want to discover the story of a painting, come and see ‘Sota les capes de Miró’ and El secret de Miró, but first check the Fundació Joan Miró website for information about the exhibition.