Miro (Compact)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In this superb critical-biographical study marking the centenary of Miro's birth, French art critic Dupin, who was a friend of the Catalan painter, peers behind the ``elaborately cultivated delirium'' of his playfully exuberant canvases to find pessimism, mystery, anxiety and foreboding. Miro's meticulously detailed ``enchanted realism'' (1918-1920) scarcely foretold his sudden plunge into the realm of fantasy. Surreal, automatist dreamscapes gave way to the ``savage paintings'' of 1934-1938, full of monsters, tortured flesh and screams, which prefigured humanity's descent into bestiality. His pure, pullulating Constellations series, made in a tiny Normandy village just before the outbreak of WW II, is a refuge from a world gone mad. Miro's fertile imagination constantly renewed itself over the next four decades as he explored a vast repertory of forms and signs. This substantial revision and enlargement of a 1962 monograph includes valuable new chapters on Miro's sculpture, ceramics, prints, tapestries, murals and poetry. (Apr.)

Library Journal

A rather wooden translation from the original French, this extensive survey of Mir's work is laid out biographically. Dupin, who was associated with the artist for three decades as an assistant, exhibition organizer, and cataloger, brings firsthand knowledge to the story of the artist's life. Nevertheless, a work like the recent Carol Lanchner's Joan Mir (see review below) offers a better value in its treatment of the art, despite the limits imposed by the catalog format (for instance, there is no index). There is surprisingly little overlap in illustration between the two, but when there is, Lanchner's volume is better. However, librarians should keep in mind that Lanchner's work is aimed at an informed readership, while Dupin's will appeal to a broader audience.-Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Lib.

Library Journal

Devoted to the multifaceted life and art of Joan Miro (1893-1983), this is a revised edition of a monumental work first published in 1961. Dupin, who collaborated with the artist in the production of his late prints, expanded and revised his original text in 1993 to include Miro's life and work up to his death in 1983. However, little aside from small additions to the bibliography seems to have been added to this 2004 edition. Reprinted to overlap with an exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, the book happens to coincide with the release of Dupin's latest installment in the catalogue raisonn of Miro's paintings (Volume 6, 1976-1981, Lelong, Paris, 2004). Dupin's 1993 edition of Miro belongs in all libraries that support 20th-century art, but this new edition is largely redundant and should be purchased only by libraries lacking the earlier editions.-Kraig A. Binkowski, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.